Delayed DefExpo 2022 gets new dates at Gandhinagar ahead of election season in Gujarat

Vishal Thapar Aug 08, 2022

The delayed 12th edition of India’s premier Defence exhibition Defexpo will be held at Gandhinagar in Gujarat from October 18 to 22, 2022, the Ministry of Defence announced on August 8.

Defxpo - a land, naval and homeland security systems exhibitions - is a platform for congregation of the global arms bazaar. It is a major opportunity to showcase the size of India’s Defence market, and is a key opportunity for India’s emerging Defence industry to interact with the armed forces, Government policy makers and also the global OEMs.

The re-scheduling of DefExpo will put the arms bazaar in a squeeze, as the schedule overlaps with that of Euronaval, one of the world’s biggest exhibitions on naval systems at Paris from October 18 to 21.

The dates narrowly avoid the busiest part of the election season in Gujarat - Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state - scheduled for December, while at the same time seeking to make a big statement in the poll-bound state about the Modi Government’s far reaching policy initiatives in Defence, including the Make in India and Aatmanirbhar Bharat emphasis which seeks to end reliance on imported military hardware to ensure India’s security.

“This was the last window for organising DefExpo 2022, given the interest of the highest political levels in this event,” highly-placed sources told BW Businessworld. The Prime Minister is expected to inaugurate DefExpo 2022 and project the Make in India agenda in Defence production before a global audience as also the local political constituency.

The DefExpo dates also narrowly avoid Diwali, which is being celebrated on October 24.

The event, originally scheduled to be held from March 10 to 14 at Gandhinagar, was postponed in March 2022 on account of a Covid surge. A sizeable number of participants who had booked space for the event in March will be reallocated their space. New bookings will commence from August 15 on the websitewww.defexpo.gov.in

The re-scheduled DefExpo also leaves the organisers, the Ministry of Defence, just over three months to focus on AeroIndia 2023, India’s biggest biennial airshow which has high stakes in ensuring a good international participation.

“DefExpo 2022 is in line with the vision of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to achieve self-reliance in defence and achieve export of $5 billion by 2025. 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 in March 2022 due to logistical problems being faced by the participants,” the Ministry of Defence stated.

“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,” it added.

“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 Indian Defence industry for forging Business partnerships. The event will help boost investment, expand manufacturing capacities and capabilities, discover avenues for technology absorption,” the statement elaborated.

The five-day event will witness three business days followed by two public days. Live demonstrations showcasing the equipment and skill-set of the armed Forces, Defence Public Sector Undertakings and Industry will be held on all five days at Sabarmati River Front through active participation and synchronized efforts at all levels.

DefExpo 2022 will be held in a three-venue format covering an area of over one lakh square metres at the Helipad Exhibition Centre, Mahatma Mandir Convention and Exhibition Centre where the inaugural event and seminars will be held, and the Sabarmati River Front where live demonstrations will be staged.

The exhibition is being planned with events such as Bandhan for forging of partnerships between companies; seminars and webinars showcasing of 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.

The Ministry of Defence has introduced numerous policy reforms in recent years such as simplifying industrial licensing process, allowing 74 per cent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) through automatic route, release of positive list of items to be procured only from Indian manufacturers, launch of seven new defence companies, Innovation for Defence Excellence (iDEX) programme, Defence Innovation Start-up Challenge (DISC), Defconnect and Artificial Intelligence in Defence (AiDef).

Trade visitors will be able to buy their tickets on the website for visiting the show during business days, that is October 18, 19and 20. There will be free entry for the general public on October 21and 22.