Aero India 2023 begins today
Over 800 exhibitors and 100 countries are participating in the biennial airshow

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh at the Aero India 2023 curtain-raiser on Sunday | Photo: Ministry of Defence

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate India’s flagship airshow in Bengaluru today with a focus on promoting indigenous defence and aerospace industry. In pursuit of the Modi government’s goal of Atmanirbharta or self-reliance, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh told media at the inaugural press conference on Sunday Aero India 2023 will see participation from over 800 exhibitors from a 100 countries.

According to the defence ministry, the airshow is being organised over a ‘total area of around 35,000 sqm’ and is expected to see participation from 98 countries. ‘The defence ministers of 32 countries, air chiefs of 29 countries and 73 CEOs of global and Indian OEMs are expected to attend the event,’ said the ministry statement, adding, ‘Eight hundred and nine (809) defence companies, including MSMEs and start-ups’ would be displaying at the show.

Major exhibitors at the show will include Airbus, Boeing, Dassault Aviation, Lockheed Martin, Israel Aerospace Industry, BrahMos Aerospace, Army Aviation, HC Robotics, SAAB, Safran, Rolls Royce, Larsen & Toubro, Bharat Forge Limited, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) and BEML Limited,’ according to the ministry.

It also said, ‘The event aims to promote export of indigenous air platforms like Light Combat Aircraft (LCA)-Tejas, HTT-40, Dornier Light Utility Helicopter (LUH), Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) and Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH).’

The organisers expect around 500,000 visitors to the show being held over five days from February 13. The show will be open to public visitors on February 16th and 17th.

Additional events around the show will include a a CEOs Roundtable on Monday, a
Defence Ministers’ Conclave on Tuesday and bilateral meetings with defence officials from participating countries.

Wednesday will see a Bandhan ceremony in which major announcements like ‘Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs)/Agreements, Transfer of Technologies and Product Launches’ will be made. Some 250 such announcements are expected at the event ‘with an expected investment of Rs 75,000 crore’ between various Indian and foreign defence companies and organisations.

The annual defence innovation event, Manthan, will also be held on Wednesday, expecting to ‘bring the leading innovators, start-ups, MSMEs, incubators, academia and Investors from defence & aerospace ecosystem under one roof’.

Finally, Aero India 2023 will have an India Pavilion, with a ‘Fixed Wing Platform’ theme. The pavilion will include exhibits from 115 companies displaying 227 products. ‘A full scale LCA-Tejas aircraft in Full Operational Capability (FOC) configuration will be at the centre-stage of India Pavilion’, said the ministry.