Gandhinagar: With an aim to give impetus to the defence sector, India's "biggest ever" defence exhibition - DefExpo 2022 is being held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

This is the 12th edition of the event that has been organised on the theme 'Path to Pride'.

At the India Pavilion, Prime Minister unveiled HTT-40 - the indigenous trainer aircraft designed by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

According to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), the aircraft has state of art contemporary systems and has been designed with pilot-friendly features.

During the program, Prime Minister also launched Mission DefSpace - to develop innovative solutions for the Defence Forces in the Space domain through industry and start-ups. At the inauguration ceremony, PM Modi also laid the foundation stone of 52 Wing Air Force Station Deesa.

This year's DefExpo is the first-ever edition exclusively for Indian companies. Indian companies, Indian subsidiaries of Foreign OEMs, Division of a company registered in India, and Exhibitor having a joint venture with an Indian company will be considered as Indian participants.

The DefExpo 2022 also marks the celebration of one year of the formation of the seven new defence companies, carved out of the erstwhile Ordnance Factory Board.

All these companies will participate in DefExpo for the first time. 451 partnerships in terms of MoUs, Transfer of Technology agreements and product launches, almost double than the last edition, are expected during the Bandhan ceremony on October 20.

The India Pavilion - a marque pavilion of the Department of Defence Production - will showcase the maturity of indigenous defence products, start-ups and the latest technology, including Artificial Intelligence in defence, while presenting India's vision for 2047.

In addition, there will be an exclusive Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) Pavilion to showcase the prowess of the country's start-ups carrying out R&D and innovation in futuristic technologies.

For the first time, States, Union Territories (UTs) have been invited to set up pavilions at the event. The Defence Minister has emphasised that with this new initiative, States, UTs will get an opportunity to participate in nation-building by attracting investment and bolstering their potential of indigenous aerospace and defence manufacturing.