Stating that Gujarat was keen to promote defence industry, Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday invited private companies to set up their units in the state.

"Gujarat with good infrastructure is the best suited for the development of defence industry and we want to start in big way," he said.

He was speaking at a conference on "leveraging opportunities to create capabilities in Defence and Homeland security manufacturing," as part of the 6th Vibrant Gujarat Summit (VGS) in Ahmedabad.

Observing that a state can also play an important role in setting up defence capabilities of the country, Modi said that his government was planning to formulate a policy in this regard.

"I think that those investors, industrialists who are active in defence manufacturing should be roped in. We should also turn ourselves towards SMEs, who can supply small defence parts," Modi said.

"As a state government, we want to take initiative. Currently, Gujarat government is active in this direction but I want to further push it," he stated.

"If a state government is ready to come forward in this direction and if you, companies active in defence production, are also willing to join hands by becoming partners, it will be the biggest service to the nation," he noted.

"Looking at the global scenario, I think those days are not far that our country would be able to supply defence material to smaller countries," he added.