As a part of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav — 75 weeks of celebration — to commemorate India’s 75 years of independence, the Directorate General of Quality Assurance (DGQA), Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence, under the leadership of Lt Gen R K Malhotra (Director General, DGQA) is organising a display of armoured vehicles and defence equipment at the Ajeya Stadium, Avadi from December from 13 to 19.
The event was hosted by Armoured Vehicles Nigam Limited (AVNL) and inaugurated virtually by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in the presence of Chairman Managing Director (ANVL) Sanjeev Kishore, and General Manager (Heavy Vehicles Factory Avadi) Chandrasekaran M.
“The objective of the exhibition is to raise awareness among the public of our manufacturing of war field tanks in the nation, to send the feel of our manufacturing… Normally, defence products are kept as a secret, but now, we are showing to the public what items we are manufacturing for the army on war fronts,” says Chandrasekaran.
Main Battle Tanks T-90 (BHISMA), T-72, ARJUN tanks, Bridge Laying tanks, Armoured Repair and Recovery vehicles are on display, along with stalls showcasing the contribution of the DGQA towards Atma Nirbhar Bharat, the government initiative for a self-reliant India.
The exhibit is also open to several schools and college students, who witnessed the live demonstrations of live tanks. “Students are very interested because usually, they can only see the workings of tanks on movies or television, but we demonstrated how they are fired on the war front, how to rotate a turret, how many degrees it can move, the rotation of guns and more,” he explains.
The display was graced by the Governor of Telengana, Tamilisai Soundararajan as well. Vendors are invited to witness the products so that whatever the nation is importing can be developed indigenously, adds Chandrasekaran. While there will be no live demonstrations, one can still visit the museum to witness the home-manufactured defence equipment in all their glory from 10 am to 5 pm.