Defence Testing Facility in Tiruchirappalli Gets Official Nod

In a major effort to boost the defence production sector of India, Ministry of Defence has formally entered an MoU with Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) in setting up a hi-tech defence testing facility in Tiruchirappalli.

This relocation procedure is a part of the Defence Testing Infrastructure Scheme (DTIS), and it is a large step towards helping de-hyphenate the industry of its reliance on distant labs in Chennai and Bengaluru.

This defence test centre at Tiruchirappalli will specialise in high end of mechanical and materials testing, which is of defence and aerospace components. It is being installed under the public-private model in which the central government will front as much as 75 percent of the projects expenditure. The balance of 25 percent will be invested by a consortium which will include Micro Labs and other key players such as HAL, BEML, TIDCO and Vaidheswaran Industries.

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The facility has a 13,000 sq ft lab and has another 3,000 sq ft administrative space that is well positioned in the SIDCO Industrial Estate in Thuvakudi. It will serve more than 40 MSMEs and OEMs involved in defence manufacturing in the region which will reduce to a substantial extent the turnaround time on testing and certification.

The centre is estimated to be in operation by December 2025, and is also estimated to generate 30-40 skilled jobs, benefiting the industrial ecosystem of the area, as well as creating part of the vision of the government to make India Aatmanirbhar. The facility will be a game-changer in the manufacturing business particularly in Trichy, where there is a strong presence of batteries, electronics, and fabrication manufacturing.