New Delhi: With the DefExpo 2018 round the corner, the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) engaged in defence manufacturing are eyeing at the upcoming event with hopes to explore wider opportunities.

India is all set to host the 10th edition of Defense Expo 2018 from April 11 to April 14 in Chennai.

In this regard, talking to KNN, P.C. Tripathi, President of Defense and strategic industries Association of India (DISA) said that the involvement and participation of MSME in defence expo will give them immense opportunities to explore the defence sector.

Further he said that with the expo, MSMEs will able to identify the areas of investment.

Also he said that they essentially will get to know what to manufacture according to the needs and demands of the national and international buyers of defence products.

Further, the event will witness the participation of 701 firms, of which 20 per cent will be Indian MSMEs highlighting focus on the ‘Make in India’ initiative.

The main focal point of the expo is to promote innovation and startups by forging new partnerships with private industry with the aim of achieving self-reliance in defence production and encouraging and facilitating participation of private industries, especially micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in defence manufacturing.

With a view to bring a greater engagement of startups with defence, the government is coming up with the new scheme called Innovations for Defence Excellence, which will set up a network of defence innovation hubs across the country and the scheme will be formally launched in the DefExpo-2018.

The inaugural ceremony will be webcasted across the globe through Indian embassies.

The DefExpo will also link Officers Training Academy (OTA), with the gates of OTA being thrown open for public on April 13 and 14.