PANJIM: Despite the opposition to the four-day DefExpo to be held in March at Quittol, work on setting up a makeshift venue will commence on Thursday and the completed facilities will be handed over to the exhibitors by March 20.
The annual event, organized by the Union Defence Ministry and to be held in Goa for the first time, is slated to start on March 28 and go on till 31. There are 44 nations that will exhibit their defence products at the event.
A senior official said, “The larger venue has given space to accommodate as many companies that wish to participate. Work on temporary structures at the venue is starting and will be complete well before time.”
The Union Ministry has clarified that it is still undecided on whether Goa would be a permanent venue for the expo, as it is waiting for the March event to take place and then review.
As per the website www.defexpoindia.in, this year the Ministry has received a record participation, with registrations till date from 843 companies, with at least 44 nations exhibiting their products.
Among the companies that have registered, the largest delegation is from India (402) followed by the US that has 87 defence firms participating. Russia at 67 comes third while large delegations expected from other Germany (37), Israel (35) and France (33).
With Goa now the new venue for the show, several live demonstration drills that could not be conducted at the former venue Pragati Maidan, have been added.
During the recent infrastructure review meeting in Goa, officials had raised concerns about the approach road for the venue. The infrastructural requirement includes supply of potable water that is seven lakh gallons per day from February 10 to April 5 and 30MM of electrical lines during the build up phase and during the event.
The government has also decided to reserve space in hospitals and 10,000 litres of blood to cater for any eventuality. On the security front, sniffer dogs with handlers, State police, traffic cops and CISF would be deployed at the site.
The government is currently facing opposition to the event with locals, as well as political opponents, protesting the holding of the event.
