TO ENHANCE the share of the state in the production and supply of defence equipment, the Kerala government is taking the initiative to set up a Defence equipment ancillary park. Industry minister Elamaram Kareem told reporters here that the state identified Palakkad, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram districts for starting the park. The park would have units of PSUs, which are now supplying materials to the defence industry, as well as private SME units. Efforts will be made to include traditional industries like coir in the venture. The government would appoint a consultant to conduct a feasibility study on the raw materials available in the state and the type of equipment that could be made for the defence industry. The government would provide the land and act as a facilitator in starting the park. he government would try to rope in any of the big private companies like Tata, Mahindra, L&T, Jindal who fall among the major suppliers to the defence industry as the anchor customer, Mr Kareem said. The services of DRDO and the defence sub committee of CII would also be sought to make the venture a success. The government already has around 200 acres in Palakkad which could be utilised for the park especially since there are units of Instrumentation and ITI nearby. On the other hand several experts have suggested Kochi as the ideal place for such a park. The Central PSU FACT had floated a proposal for a Defence ancillary park in its land through a joint venture with state government. The state government is also taking steps to strengthen the state PSUs with the Central support. This is evident from the recent tieups like NTPC-TELK, DRDO-Keltec, ISRO-Keltron and Railways-Autokast, Mr Kareem said. The government is now trying to strengthen two another state PSUs namely KEL and SIFL through an agreement with BHEL