Lucknow BrahMos Unit to Boost India's Defence Self-Reliance: Rajnath Singh

• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh virtually inaugurates BrahMos Integration & Testing Facility in Lucknow, marking a major step towards India’s self-reliance in defence manufacturing.

• Facility under Uttar Pradesh Defence Industrial Corridor (UPDIC) creates 1,500 jobs and symbolizes Indo-Russian technological collaboration.

• Inauguration coincides with National Technology Day, as Singh recalls Pokhran nuclear tests and reiterates India’s ‘Make-in-India, Make-for-the-World’ defence vision.

Defence minister Rajnath Singh stated that the BrahMos Integration and Testing Facility Centre would enhance India's drive towards aatma-nirbharta (self-reliance) in the defence industry. He made the comments after he virtually inaugurated the Lucknow facility from Delhi.

Describing the BrahMos complex in Lucknow as a source of pride for the Uttar Pradesh Defence Industrial Corridor (UPDIC), Singh said that it has already generated about 500 direct and 1,000 indirect employment opportunities. He further added that BrahMos is the synergy of India's and Russia's best defence technologies.

Rajnath Singh applauded chief minister Yogi Adityanath for the record 40-month completion of the project. He was appreciative of the efforts of the scientists, engineers, and the state government, adding that his dream of Lucknow making a meaningful contribution towards India's defence infrastructure was finally becoming a reality.

On the UP Defence Industrial Corridor project progress, Rajnath Singh says: "A total of 180 MoUs have, till now, been signed with an envisioned investment of ₹34,000 crore. ₹4,000 crore has already been invested."

Singh quoted the Missile Man of India and ex-President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam who had stated, "Unless India stands up to the world, no one will respect us." In this world, there is no place for fear, but strength respects strength, the defence minister added.

He highlighted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government's vision of establishing the corridor is based on its aim of making the state the world's leading defence production and export hub.

Addressing the importance of the day, Singh referred to the inauguration of the BrahMos Aerospace complex on National Technology Day (May 11) as historic. He remembered the 1998 Pokhran nuclear tests, carried out under the leadership of then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, which had marked India's arrival as a strategic power. On this day in 1998, through respected Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji, our scientists demonstrated India's power to the world by conducting nuclear tests in Pokhran."

The best thing about the project is that the involvement of both public and private sector is being witnessed. Titanium and super alloy material plants are being opened by PTC Industries Limited in Lucknow itself, Singh further added. "Besides, the groundwork for seven other key projects is being established. This would fasten the speed of India's self-reliance in the defence field," declared Singh.

The defence minister again emphasized the vision of 'Make-in-India, Make-for-the-World' by the government, saying that self-reliance does not just imply meeting India's own security requirements, but also the vision of making India a leading exporter of defence hardware to the world.

Referring to a recent report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, which estimated that global defence spending has grown to $2,718 billion in 2024, Singh said that India cannot miss out on such a huge market. "The inauguration of the BrahMos facility is a strong step towards making India an important player in the world defence production system", he says.

He further stated that Kanpur, otherwise called Manchester of East earlier, will return to its lost glory with the Defence Corridor project. Kanpur is among the six nodes of the defence corridor in UP.