Gujarat: The Defence Expo 2022, which was proposed to be held in Gujarat’s Gandhinagar from March 10th-14th, has been postponed, the Defence Ministry spokesperson said on Friday. The announcement comes at a time when the Russia-Ukraine conflict is escalating. The 12th edition of the prestigious biennial defence exhibition was postponed due to logistics problems being experienced by participants, the Ministry said, adding that the new dates will be announced ‘in due course.’
The MoD had said on February 22nd that as many as 973 exhibitors, including 121 foreign exhibitors from 63 countries including the US, Russia, France and other parts of Europe, had registered for Asia’s largest exhibition on land, naval and homeland security systems. “Over 900 companies, including over 100 foreign firms, have confirmed their participation. We expect the number to go beyond 1000,” an official said last month while adding, ‘we expect around 250 MoUs to be firmed up at the four-day event’.
According to officials, the main idea behind the four-day event was to showcase how India’s policy intervention actually led to a success story in defence manufacturing. Over 50 delegations to be led by either defence ministers or service chiefs were expected to attend the Defexpo 2022. Spread over 1 lakh sq m., this year’s defexpo was to be the largest since its inception in 1996. It was to be held in Gujarat for the first time, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi scheduled to attend the inaugural ceremony. The last DefExpo was held in Lucknow while the last previous editions were held in Chennai and Goa. Prior to that, the DefExpo was always held in the national capital.