Tamil Nadu loses AMCA defence testing hub to Andhra despite Hosur infra edge
The Rs 15,000-crore AMCA flight testing and integration complex was cleared for Andhra Pradesh even as Tamil Nadu offered a longer runway and free land in Hosur
Tamil Nadu has missed out to Andhra Pradesh in securing the proposed Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) flight testing and integration complex, a major defence aerospace project linked to India’s fifth-generation stealth fighter programme, with the Union government backing Andhra Pradesh for the facility.
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Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu laid the foundation stone for the Rs 15,000-crore AMCA defence hub in Puttaparthi on Friday. The move comes despite Tamil Nadu reportedly offering technically stronger infrastructure conditions, according to highly placed sources cited by The New Indian Express. However, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has not officially explained the reason behind the decision.
The Tamil Nadu government had been engaged in discussions with the DRDO for the past three years to bring the project to Hosur. Under the proposal, the AMCA flight testing and integration complex was to be developed alongside the proposed Hosur airport, with the testing facility on one side and the passenger terminal on the other.
The report quoted sources as saying that the original runway at the Andhra site measured about 2.1 km, compared to the proposed 3.5-km runway planned at Hosur. As a result, Andhra Pradesh would need to extend the runway to 3 km by acquiring additional land for the project.
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Tamil Nadu had also offered to provide 100 acres of land free of cost, as requested by the DRDO for the project, in addition to the proposed 3.5-km runway at Hosur airport. The facility would have been located close to the headquarters of the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) — the nodal agency responsible for the design and development of India’s Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) — in Vimanapura, Bengaluru. Officials said this proximity, given that the ADA headquarters is located around 40 km from Hosur, could have enabled smoother integration with the existing airspace infrastructure.