For several years, there has been talk of shifting Aero India from Bengaluru to some other city. During the last edition of the biennial event in 2017, the then Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar caused a stir by suggesting that the air show, billed as the biggest in Asia, might be shifted to his home state, Goa. That did not happen, although he did manage to shift another biennial mega event, DefExpo, from Delhi to Goa. But his plans to turn Goa into a permanent venue fell flat after his successor Nirmala Sitharaman shifted it to her home state, Tamil Nadu.
This year, reports that Aero India, held in Bengaluru since 1996, would be shifted to Lucknow caused much consternation not just among politicians but also among international exhibitors, who plan for these events months, sometimes even a year, ahead. Other reports that the event, slated for January-February 2019, might be held in October-November 2018 added to the confusion. Apart from the lack of infrastructure in Lucknow, the winter fog in the city made one wag wonder whether people were expected to only hear, and not see the aero displays, the main draw of the show.
It is no one’s case that only one state or city should enjoy the economic (reports say the hospitality industry in Bengaluru earned `500 crore during the event in 2017) and political benefits of such events. But shifting venues at short notice annoys not just foreign exhibitors, but also the people who put the show together, which in this case is the defence ministry’s Defence Exhibition Organisation.
Arguments that shifting the venue to Lucknow made sense because of the newly planned defence corridor in Uttar Pradesh are also inane, given that work on the corridor is still in the planning stages, and could take as many as two decades to complete. Bengaluru, on the other hand, is already an international aerospace hub. Before moving Aero India, the Centre must ensure that the infrastructure is in place, and more importantly, announce it at least a year ahead to prevent heartburn and confusion.