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Rajnath Singh to review preparations for DefExpo-2022
DefExpo was traditionally held in Delhi until 2014 after which it has seen a string of new venues --- Goa (2016), Chennai (2018) and Lucknow (2020).
Defence minister Rajnath Singh will on Thursday visit Gandhinagar and review the preparations for India’s flagship military exhibition, DefExpo, which is being held next year with focus on projecting India as a defence manufacturing hub, officials familiar with the development said on Wednesday.
The biennial show will be held in Gandhinagar from March 11-13, 2022.
Singh will be briefed on the preparations for the event which is being planned at a time of ongoing uncertainty amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
It also comes at a time when the government has sharpened its focus on promoting self- reliance in the defence manufacturing sector and positioning India as an exporter of military hardware.
In the last one year, the government has imposed a ban on the import of 209 defence items that will be implemented progressively from 2021 to 2025 to boost self-reliance.
DefExpo was traditionally held in Delhi until 2014 after which it has seen a string of new venues --- Goa (2016), Chennai (2018) and Lucknow (2020). The venue was shifted to Goa when the late Manohar Parrikar was the defence minister, it moved to Chennai when Nirmala Sitharaman held the portfolio, and it was staged in Lucknow last year with Singh as the defence minister.
