It’s official; DefExpo 2022 to be held in Gujarat between October 18-22

New Delhi: It's official! The 12th edition of DefExpo – India's flagship exhibition on Land, Naval and Homeland Security systems – will be held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat between October 18-22, 2022. "The five-day event DefExpo 2022 will witness three business days followed by two public days", an official statement released by the Ministry said. "Live demonstrations showcasing the equipment and skill set of the Armed Forces, DPSUs and Industry will be held on all five days at Sabarmati River Front through active participation and synchronized efforts at all levels", it added.

DefExpo 2022 will be held in a three-venue format across an area of 01+ lakh square metres at Helipad Exhibition Centre; inaugural event and seminars at Mahatma Mandir Convention and Exhibition Centre and a Live demo at Sabarmati River Front. The exhibition is being planned with events such as Bandhan for forging partnerships between companies; seminars and webinars showcasing start-ups/MSMEs, including cutting-edge technology solutions for future battlefield; Artificial Intelligence in defence; student visits and showcasing Gujarat as an investment destination for aerospace and defence sector, etc.

"DefExpo 2022 is in line with the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to achieve self-reliance in defence and achieve export of $5 billion by 2025", the statement added. India has successfully established itself as an emerging defence manufacturing hub with numerous international orders being bagged by Indian companies in recent years. The Indian Defence industry has been keenly anticipating DefExpo-2022 which is Asia's largest event in the defence sector. It was postponed to March 2022 due to logistical problems being faced by the participants.

As India celebrates its 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav', DefExpo 2022 gains further significance with its theme 'Path to Pride' invoking nationalistic pride and encouraging citizens to partake in nation-building through establishing a capable indigenous Defence industry.

The Ministry of Defence has introduced numerous policy reforms in recent years such as simplifying the industrial licensing process; allowing 74% Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) through an automatic route; releasing a positive list of items to be procured only from Indian manufacturers; launching of seven new defence companies; Innovation for Defence Excellence (iDEX); Defence Innovation Start-up Challenge (DISC); Defconnect; Artificial Intelligence in Defence (AiDef) etc. The reforms in defence manufacturing are attracting greater interest from Indian Defence manufacturers and it is therefore anticipated that DefExpo-2022 would attract active participation from Indian companies.

At DefExpo-2022, the participants will get an opportunity to showcase their equipment and platforms and also be able to explore the strengths and capabilities of the expanse of the Indian Defence industry for forging Business partnerships. The event will help boost investment, expand manufacturing capacities and capabilities, and discover avenues for technology absorption.

The DefExpo-2022 website is available to provide online services to exhibitors, besides hosting informative content about the various indigenous defence products and promoting heritage and leisure in Gujarat. The exhibitor booking would be available for Indian companies which will include Indian subsidiaries of Foreign OEMs, Joint Ventures between Indian and Foreign companies, Defence Public Sector Undertakings, State Pavilions, DRDO and Indian companies. The website will be an enabler for exhibitors to register and book space online on a first-come-first-serve basis, make online payments, and book conference halls and venues for Business-to-Business (B2B) meetings.

The website will be the first interface making the process of booking and information access effortless. A sizeable number of participants who have retained their presence in the post postponement event, opting for the Costs of Compensation offered by the Ministry will be reallocated their space. Bookings of space for new exhibitors will commence from August 15, 2022. Trade visitors will be able to buy their tickets on the website for visiting the show during business days i.e., 18, 19 and 20 October and Free Entry for the general public on 21 and 22 October. Defence publications and media would also require registering online through the website. A discount of 25% will be offered on the earlier space and ticket rates for DefExpo-2022 to encourage the wider presence of Indian companies. The special focus will be to promote the Indian start-ups and MSMEs as also the setting up of State Pavilions to further their A&D policies.

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