MoD announces Aero India schedule in advance

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 29

Literally breaking the shackles of uncertainty due to the ongoing Covid-19 scare, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) on Wednesday announced the dates for the Aero India, 2021. The announcement comes at least five months in advance.

The five-day aero show (February 4 to 7, 2021) will be conducted at the southern metropolis of Bangalore. The city has hosted 12 editions of the show. The one in 2021 will be the 13th edition of the biennial show.

Normally, the dates for the event are finalised and announced in October, allowing international visitors to plan their itinerary besides booking of hotels and airline tickets.

The announcement indicates the resolve of the MoD. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had on Tuesday reviewed the functioning of the ministry and said, “Defence Public Sector Undertaking and private defence industry could play a major role in the economic revival.”

In the last Aero India (2019), more than 440 companies had participated of which 240-odd were Indian. For the first time, 45 French firms had comprised the largest foreign representation, many of them hoping to forge industrial partnership.

India is a big market for weapons and planes. This financial year, New Delhi has set aside Rs 1,13,626 crore (approx $15 billion) for capital allocation used for purchase of new weapons, aircraft, warships and other military hardware, like guns and new UAVs.