Bengaluru, NFAPost: Indian aeronautics industry veteran Dr Naresh Palta on Wednesday relinquished the Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers (SIDM), Karnataka Chapter Chairmanship and handed over the baton.
Speaking at the function, Dr Naresh Palta said it was a great honour to lead the Karnataka Chapter of SIDM as its founding chairman.
“The Karnataka Chapter of SIDM has a larger mandate in the overall defence manufacturing of India since Karnataka is the aerospace capital of the country. It is not only home to PSU defence establishments, associated research and development agencies, but also private manufacturing companies, MSMEs and major overseas entities,” said Dr Naresh Palta.
Over the last three years, Dr Naresh Palta pointed out that SIDM Karnataka Chapter has done yeoman service in channelising the power to emerge as a major hub for Indian defence manufacturing and thus for the global defence manufacturing value chain.
“With immense satisfaction have passed on the Baton of Chairmanship of SIDM’s Karnataka Chapter, after nurturing it for more than 3 years since its inception. It was an honour to receive the Felicitation Memento from the President of SIDM Arun Ramchandani in the presence of the domain luminaries like the Director General SIDM K Ramesh, top leadership of Public and Private enterprises and Regulatory Authorities,” said Dr Naresh Palta.
He also highlighted the fact that the Karnataka Chapter today is in the forefront of activities of SIDM nationwide, and the membership has grown by about 75%. According to Dr Naresh Palta, the key pillars for institutionalising the Chapter activities for strengthening the Defence & Aerospace domain were 5 points.
They include a) Domain knowledge support through focused events for disseminating information regarding enabling policies, Defence business processes, financial & other support avenues. ; b) Stakeholder engagements through dedicated sessions between the industry members and Defence Public entities, Defence Services, the State Govt., and the overseas contributors. ; c) Policy advocacy support to the national team on important policy upgrades and formulations. ; d) Defence Ecosystem integration through a dedicated WhatsApp group of the Karnataka members to synergise capabilities of the individual enterprises. ; e) Hosting overseas delegations for interaction with the industry partners.
Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers (SIDM) is making its impact along with its various chapters when the country’s defence production touched Rs 65,479.00 crore during the financial year 2026, and exports reached Rs 29,878.17 crore. Also, during the same period, India exported defence products to more than 85 countries, and around 12,000 MSMEs participated in the export.
