Andhra’s pitch for HAL projects rubs Karnataka the wrong way

Karnataka Industries & Infrastructure Minister MB Patil on Monday said he would soon meet Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to save HAL’s proposed investments in the state amid reports of threats from the neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.

“I will also request union ministers from Karnataka, Nirmala Sitharaman, Pralhad Joshi, HD Kumaraswamy, V Somanna and Shobha Karandlaje to join me in my meeting with the Defence Minister. We will do our best to protect Karnataka’s interests in defence projects,” he told ET.

Patil’s comments came on the back of media reports that Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu has sought diversion of HAL’s advanced medium combat aircraft (AMCA) and light combat aircraft (LCA) production from Bengaluru to Andhra Pradesh.


Naidu reportedly offered 10,000 acres of land at Lepakshi-Madakashira hub on the AP-Karnataka border, about 140-km from Bangalore international airport during his meeting with Singh in Delhi on Friday. The CM is also reported to have said Bengaluru was saturated for HAL projects.

Naidu’s TDP is an important ally of the NDA, and the AP CM has upped the game leveraging his political clout in Delhi to speed up development in his 11-year-old state with public and private sector investments.

“Naidu knows the system very well. There is nothing wrong in his demanding new units or those under expansion but cannot ask for diversion of existing ones in Karnataka…,” minister Patil said. “Who said we don’t have land? We have already given land to HAL in Tumakuru and would consider more if it wants.”

Karnataka would also press for a defence manufacturing corridor when he meets the Defence Minister along with other ministers, Patil said. Karnataka, he added, accounted for 65% of defence production but had been ignored for a defence corridor. Two such corridors are coming up in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu to reduce imports and step up domestic production to increase exports.