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Defense Rajnath Singh said at the foundation stone laying ceremony of the tank renovation project in Jabalpur on Thursday that our Indian Army is one of the most powerful armies in the world. In such a situation our needs are also very high. In ground warfare, tanks of T-72 and T-90 variants are very important for us.

He said, “These tanks are standing like an iron wall on our borders. Today the world is changing the way it looks at India and our efforts for a self-reliant India are responsible for this. India's defense sector has now moved towards becoming self-reliant.

The Defense Minister said that the role of the tank has not ended. The role of the tank is evolving. That is, technology is changing, the nature of war is changing, but the need for tanks in ground combat has not ended and this is also giving direction to our defense policy.

The Defense Minister said, “India's defense sector is now moving towards becoming completely self-reliant. Today we are getting the results of the hard work we have done in the last 10 years. In 2014, our domestic defense production was only Rs 46,000 crore, which means we were able to produce weapons and equipment worth only Rs 46,000 crore in India. But today the same has increased to a record of more than Rs 1 lakh 77 thousand crore.”

Apart from this, India's defense exports were very low in 2014. We used to be able to sell arms and equipment worth less than Rs 1,000 crore to the world, but today the same has increased to a record Rs 38,424 crore. The world is looking to India as a manufacturing power, technology partner and reliable defense partner.”

Rajnath Singh said, “Under the project whose bhoomi pujan took place today, an additional capacity of refurbishing 80 tanks every year will be set up here in Jabalpur.

When this project is completed, Heavy Vehicle Factory Avadi's capacity of 150 tanks and Vehicle Factory Jabalpur's capacity of 80 tanks, together, will be able to refurbish 230 tanks every year. With this, our army will be able to get tanks on time as per its need. I am happy that in this project costing Rs 472 crore, our local talent and technical workforce will also get opportunity.

There is no shortage of skills among our youth. There is a need to give them opportunities, technology and the right ecosystem. When our youth get these three things, then the same youth will become the most important factors in nation building.”

He said that for the last 40 years, Heavy Vehicle Factory i.e. HVF has supplied around 4,400 tanks to the Indian Army. This figure in itself is something to be proud of. Even today, these tanks stand on our borders as a deterrent to the enemy and stand as a morale booster for our soldiers.

The Defense Minister said that our approach is not to consider any one platform as an alternative to the other. We need drones, we need missiles, we need artillery, we need electronic warfare, energy weapons and we need modernized tanks.

We don't have to decide whether we want tanks or drones; We have to ensure that our soldiers have tanks as well as drones and there is better coordination between the two. I am confident that this facility in Jabalpur will carry forward this vision in the times to come.

He said that this project will prove to be a boon for our soldiers who destroy the enemies with the help of these tanks, and the biggest thing is that this project is going to open new doors of prosperity and employment in the lives of the local people of Jabalpur and surrounding areas, our farmers, our labourers, our youth and our small entrepreneurs.

The possibilities of defense manufacturing on 3,073 hectares of land in the Gwalior-Chambal region and the proposed investment of more than Rs 16,960 crore reflect the state's ambitious thinking in this direction. This effort is laying a strong foundation to make Madhya Pradesh the next major defense and aerospace manufacturing hub of India.