Chennai, More than 400 large, medium, small and micro (MSMEs) units were expected to participate in the defence industry related expo-empowering MSMEs to be held here from March 19 to 21, 2021.The Defence Ministry has given approval to the city-based Swatantra Foundation to host the expo at the Chennai Trade Centre.The Aerospace Industry Development Association of Tamil Nadu (AIDAT) and Tamil Nadu Small and Tiny Industries Association (TANSTIA) will be the Co-organisers of the expo. The main aim of the expo was to connect the Indian MSME sector companies who have the capacity and the capability to cater to the Defence Sector. A Conference and Seminar on Opportunities for MSMEs in Indian Defence Sector ? Building an Atma Nirbhar Eco System is also being planned concurrently with the Expo.The main objective was to connect MSMEs to end users in the Services, Indian Defence Manufacturing majors and the various R&D institutions under DRDO and DPSUs, to build and harness the capacity and capability of MSME sector to cater to the needs of Defence sector, to create a broad and sustainable Supply Chain base for a vibrant MSME sector for Defence and Defence Exports, to provide a forum for MSME and Defence sector buyers to interact and identify mutually beneficial areas of business opportunities and to enable an eco-system for Innovation by
promoting new Start Ups and Academia-Industry collaborations. Leading firms like Larsen and Toubro, Bharat Forge, Super Auto Forge, the Ordnance Factories, DGQA, Hindustan Shipyard, LMW, LCC and few other large units have already agreed to participate and exhibit their products in the expo.The Expo will give opportunity for Tier 1 and OEs to seek out and develop prospective suppliers.According to expo Convenor and Secretary S Ramasubramanian, ”the B2B meet is the key during the expo where we expect real time business generation to happen.” ”We are planning to have at least 120 one hour sessions of B2B meet between the Large, Medium
and MSEs”, he added.