Defence Production Secretary to Engage Stakeholders in Nagpur for Policy Insights Secretary (Defence Production) Sanjeev Kumar will convene a meeting with stakeholders from both private and public defence enterprises in Nagpur during his visit to the city on Friday. The gathering aims to gather perspectives from various levels of industry participants to inform future policy decisions. Kumar will be accompanied by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who will inaugurate a new facility at Yantra India Limited (YIL), a public sector unit (PSU) established from the ordnance factories. The meeting will include representatives from YIL, which produces hardware for ammunition; Dassault Reliance Aviation Limited (DRAL), which manufactures components for Rafael aircraft; Munitions India Limited, another PSU; and mid-sized and small ancillary units. The Vidarbha Defence Industries Association (VDIA) will also participate. The discussions are expected to address several key issues, including the accessibility of data from agencies like the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), which has been a point of contention among industrialists. Some stakeholders have raised concerns about the practice of "white labelling," where defence products are marketed as indigenously made despite being imported. The meeting will also focus on streamlining the export licensing process, as delays in granting licenses have been cited as a barrier to growth despite the government’s emphasis on boosting defence exports. The state’s industries department is coordinating the event, with plans to use the insights gathered to draft a new policy framework. The existing state defence and aerospace policy, formulated in 2018, will be revisited.#rajnath_singh #yantra_india_limited #vidarbha_defence_industries_association #dassault_reliance_aircraft #defence_production_secretary
Project-hit Entrepreneur Returns to Mihan as Aerospace Investor Twenty-five years ago, the Maharashtra government acquired Hemant Bhave’s land at Khapri, where he operated a small engineering unit. Bhave, who founded Bhagyashree Home Appliances as a 28-year-old in the 1980s, was forced to relocate when the government seized his property. He described the experience as shocking, noting the compensation offered was insufficient to compensate for his losses. Despite the upheaval, Bhave has returned to the area as an aerospace investor, now operating within one of India’s largest special economic zones (SEZs)—Mihan. His company, Bhagyashree Home Appliances, is establishing a 2.5-acre plant to manufacture aircraft components for two prominent SEZ-based firms: Dassault Reliance Aviation Limited (DRAL) and Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL). DRAL is set to produce the Falcon business jet, India’s first commercial aircraft to be manufactured domestically from Mihan, and supplies spares for Rafale fighter jets. TASL, meanwhile, serves aviation giants like Boeing and Airbus. Beyond the SEZ, Bhave’s company also supplies sheet metal parts for Su-30 fighter jets to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and provided critical components for the Chandrayaan mission to ISRO. Bhave retained the “Home Appliances” suffix in his company’s name, a nod to his early invention—a device that measured cooking gas in a cylinder, enabling consumers to order refills in advance. The transition to aerospace was not immediate. After the land acquisition, Bhave and his family were uprooted, with no choice but to relocate to MIDC’s Hingna industrial estate. His son, Prasad, who earned a degree in aerospace engineering by 2012, played a pivotal role in steering the company toward aviation.#hemant_bhave #bhagyashree_home_appliances #mihan_sez #dassault_reliance_aircraft #tata_advanced_systems
