HYDERABAD: Telangana-based aerospace & defence player VEM Technologies Pvt Ltd is setting up an integrated defence systems (IDS) facility at the National Investment & Manufacturing Zone (NIMZ) at Zaheerabad in Sangareddy district on Hyderabad’s outskirts at an investment of around Rs 1000 crore.

The facility, for which the foundation stone was laid on Wednesday, is coming up on 511 acres and is touted as the first of its kind in the country with end-to-end infrastructure for assembly, integration and testing of weapon systems. The IDS facility will generate over 2,000 direct and about 4,000 indirect jobs.

According to VEMS, which already has two facilities in the state, the upcoming unit will be a full-fledged facility working on missiles, naval systems, UAS (unmanned aerial systems), medium and large aero and naval structures, radars, aero-engines, hot and cold integration, metrology and surface treatment for domestic and exports markets. The company, which has over 1,350 employees, including 600 engineers at its technology centre, caters to global defence players in US, Europe and Israel.

Telangana industries minister KT Rama Rao said the unit will give a major boost to the Centre’s Atmanirbhar Bharat’ drive.

HYDERABAD: Ahead of the Union Budget, which is to be presented on February 1, Telangana industries minister KT Rama Rao has written nearly half a dozen letters to Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman seeking budgetary support of over 14,000 crore for key industrial projects set to come up in Telangana.

These include the projects like Hyderabad-Bengaluru, Hyderabad-Vijayawada, Hyderabad-Warangal and Hyderabad-Nagpur industrial corridors as well as the Hyderabad Pharma City project that has bagged the National Investment and Manufacturing Zone (NIMZ) status.
KTR has urged the FM to sanction additional nodes at Mancherial (3,000 acres) under the Hyderabad-Nagpur corridor, Huzurabad as part of the Hyderabad-Vijayawada corridor and Jadcherla-Gadwal-Kothaguda node under the Hyderabad-Bengaluru corridor.

On the approved nodes at Hyderabad Pharma City and NIMZ Zaheerabad under the Hyderabad-Warangal and Hyderabad-Nagpur corridors, that the Centre has agreed to fund, KTR has asked for a budgetary provision of 2,000 crore each.
He has also sought release of grant in aid of over 5,000 crore for the master planning as well as development of internal, external and technical infrastructure for the establishment of Hyderabad Pharma City as a NIMZ in Rangareddy district. KTR has also made a pitch to Sitharaman to include Hyderabad in the proposed defence industrial production corridor.

Hyderabad: British EVtech startup One Moto will be investing Rs250 crore in setting up an electric vehicles and lithium ion battery manufacturing facility at the Zaheerabad National Investment and Manufacturing Zone (NIMZ) in Telangana.

The facility, to be spread over 15 acres, will have major automation integration with additional semi-robotics, and latest manufacturing machinery to produce cutting edge products and is expected to become operational by the end of the year.

It will have a capacity to manufacture around 40,000 bikes per annum in phase 1, going up to around one lakh EVs per annum over the next two years, One Moto India partner and promoter Muzammil Riyaz said on Monday.

One Moto’s India manufacturing facility will not just cater to the domestic EV market but will also ship to exports markets as well.

The facility will also make Li-ion batteries starting with a capacity of around 50,000 batteries per annum and scaling up to around 2 lakhs per annum capacities in future, Riyaz said, adding that the company is also working towards acquiring a batter tech startup in the future.

Currently, the 3 year old startup is assembling around 1,000-1,500 bikes on a monthly basis in Hyderabad. “We are currently doing CKD (completely knocked down) assembly in Hyderbad. We import the kits from China and UK. But once the new facility goes operational we will be manufacturing everything from scratch in India”, he explained

The proposed plant in expected to generate around 500 direct jobs and provide indirect employment to about 2,000 people. One Moto also inked an MoU with the Telangana Govt. for the facility on Monday.

HYDERABAD: With the Pharma City project gathering steam, the Telangana government is now sharpening focus on the Zaheerabad NIMZ (National Investment and Manufacturing Zone) to boost the manufacturing sector in the region. The Pharma City project too was accorded NIMZ status and the state government has already received environmental clearance for it.

“We are commencing the environmental impact assessment process later this month,” Telangana IT and industries principal secretary Jayesh Ranjan said. “Once the environment assessment is completed, work on development of infrastructure will commence,” he said, adding that the public hearing is scheduled for January 20 and officials will explain pollution-related safeguards to the villagers.

The state government had recently requested the Centre to allocate Rs500 crore for Phase I development of the project.

Ranjan said that it is only after the environmental clearance that the state government will be able to provide land to investors.

Land in Zaheerabad NIMZ can be offered at a much lower rate, approximately 50% lower as compared to land in Pharma City, because it is in the rural area, Ranjan said.

Currently, only around 2,900 acres of the total 13,500 acres earmarked for the project is in possession of the state government and it expects to acquire the rest this year.

Ranjan pointed out that apart from attractive land prices, Zaheerabad NIMZ scores very high in terms of road, rail, port as well as air connectivity, and the region also has a good mix of talent availability due to the presence of many industries in nearby areas.

Even as the state government bets big on NIMZ projects, professor Chandan Chowdhury, senior associate dean at the Indian School of Business, said, “To make our NIMZ successful, we need to think beyond traditional interventions and focus on promoting R&D and digital innovation. The government shares 50% of the total expenditure for filing for an international patent to encourage innovation in NIMZ. Such initiatives will help manufacturing companies within NIMZ to drive strategies for global competitiveness.”

Adil Zaidi, partner and leader, economic development advisory, EY India, said that post Covid-19, it is essential to ensure enough provisions for workers’ accommodation and social amenities for them to live within the manufacturing zone. This will reduce the cost of manpower for industries, as well as help tackle large-scale labour migration, he said.

“NIMZs have the potential to foster a collaborative working model between different players along the value chain,” Zaidi said. “For this, the need of the hour is to provide various statutory approvals at NIMZ level, along with plug-and-play infrastructure for key sectors such as ESDM, food processing, and textiles, among others, so that the overall cost of doing business for manufacturing units reduces and India becomes competitive.”