Ahmedabad: Retired as the head of South Western Air Command (SWAC) of the Indian Air Force (IAF) Air Marshal RK Dhir on Saturday has been appointed as an advisor to the state for Defence and Aerospace Industries by the Gujarat government.
Air Marshal Dhir has been the longest-serving chief of SWAC.
In a first-of-its-kind appointment, the state government on Saturday issued a press release stating that the Air Marshal Dhir will take over as an advisor on October 1.
“We lack the necessary local expertise in the defence and sector and so we have made the appointment. He will be working alongside the Industries and Mines department and will be briefing both Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani and me about the developments in this sector,” JN Singh, Gujarat Chief Secretary was quoted in a report.
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This is perhaps for the first time that a senior IAF officer has been appointed as advisor to the Gujarat government. Gujarat has already declared an aerospace and defence policy in 2016 and is hard selling Dholera Investment Region (SIR) as a hub for defence and aerospace industries. Way back in May 2014, the Modi government had granted about 22 industrial licences to Gujarat to set up defence manufacturing units.