“East Tech 2023” started today at the Maniram Dewan Trade Centre, Guwahati. The event was inaugurated by Chief Guest Bimal Borah, Hon’ble Minister for Industries, Commerce & Public Enterprises and Cultural Affairs. The august gathering included Shri Ravi Kota, IAS, Additional Chief Secretary for Industries, Commerce & Public Enterprises, Lieutenant General RP Kalita, General Officer Commanding in Chief, Eastern Command, Lieutenant General RC Srikanth, Chief of Staff, Head Quarter Eastern Command, Lieutenant General Manish Erry, Corps Commander, Gajraj Corps and a large number of Military, Para Military Force, Police and Civil dignitaries.
An initiative by the Eastern Army Command in association with the Ministry of Commerce and Industries, Government of Assam, the event is set to identify cutting-edge technologies needed for solving operational challenges in the Eastern Theatre and the Indian Army as a whole. EAST TECH 23 has been oriented towards providing technology solutions to enable defence forces with Battlefield Transparency, Command and Control Architecture, Communication Systems, Information Dominance, Electronic Warfare Nano Technology/MEMS, Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, Unmanned warfare systems Mobility, Chemical-Biological-Nuclear (CBRN) Defence, Advanced Weapon System, survival systems and Non-Lethal Weapons.
The inauguration of the event followed with a Key note address by Shri Bimal Bora, Hon’ble Minister Cultural Affairs, Commerce & Industries, government of Assam.The Honourable Minister highlighted the long and fruitful association of Assam with Indian Army both in peace as well as difficult times and conveyed his appreciation on behalf of Himanta Biswa Sarma, Chief Minister, Assam. He also added that the government of Assam understands the importance of creating a progressive business environment in the state and events such as East Tech 2023 will certainly create awareness of contemporary technologies and hardware solutions available with Indian manufacturers. He thanked the Indian Army for organising East Tech 2023 and hoped that many investors would take up projects in the defence sector in the North East, especially in Assam, being closer to the ASEAN countries.
The response from the Indian Defence Manufacturers has been overwhelming including MSMEs, DRDO, DPSUs from all over the country arriving in the city, a gateway to the North-East India, to showcase their latest and the most advanced weapon & equipment technology.
The event consisted of about two hundred stalls allotted to around one hundred and fifty investment partners to display and demonstrate their field of expertise. It will herald a new era of ‘Soldering Through Self Reliance’ with development and induction of indigenous & niche technologies in the defence sector. The main attractions at the event were the new technological advancements being showcased by IlT Guwahati and other industry members, which have been entirely designed and developed in India.
