BrahMos manufacturing in Lucknow likely to begin from March: Rajnath Singh

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said the work on the BrahMos missile manufacturing site in Lucknow is likely to be completed by March next year.

Mr Singh was speaking in Gomti Nagar here on the second day of the tour of his parliamentary constituency.

"The work on BrahMos missile project is also going on at a fast pace and after next February-March, the missile manufacturing will begin on the soil of Lucknow," the BJP leader said.

Developed by an India-Russia joint venture, the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft or land platforms.

The work on the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) lab will also be completed soon, Mr Singh said.

He said there were 11 other projects in Lucknow that have been undertaken.

"Though they will take some time to complete, I can say that people will see a completely different Lucknow in the next few years," the minister said.

During his visit in June, Singh had said that "everything from nuts and bolts to BrahMos missiles would be manufactured in the Uttar Pradesh Defence Industrial Corridor (UPDIC)".

"We have created a conducive environment for defence manufacturing through the defence corridors in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. UPDIC has told me that there is a plan to acquire about 1,700 hectares of land for this corridor, of which more than 95 per cent of the land has already been acquired," he had said.

On the 'Sanatana Dharma' row, Mr Singh said, "Sanatana Dharma gives the message of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam. It neither has a beginning nor an end. No power in the world can end it. If there is a threat to Sanatan Dharma then it will be a very big threat." 

Recently, DMK leaders Udhayanidhi Stalin and A Raja claimed Sanatan Dharma had sown divisions in society and must be eradicated on the lines of diseases like dengue, malaria and coronavirus.

The Defence Minister inspected the ongoing work of the Munshi Pulia Over Bridge being built at Khurram Nagar and Polytechnic intersection in Indira Nagar Sector 25 on the second day of his visit to his Lok Sabha constituency Lucknow, BJP said in a statement. 

He also inspected the ongoing work at Gomti Nagar railway station.

Mr Singh said, "I am satisfied with the way the work is going on at Gomti Nagar Railway Station. It will be completed by December."

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)