Tata Motors plans to double defence sector revenues

Bullish over the government’s plans to encourage local defence manufacturing, Tata Motors plans to double its revenues from the defence business over the next three years,  according to a company official.

“Our cumulative revenues over the last three years have been at around Rs 2,000 crore. We plan to double that over the next three years,” Vernon Noronha, vice-president, defence and government business, at Tata Motors, said.

“Some 30 per cent of those revenues are from exports currently,” Noronha said, adding that the order book from defence currently stands at around Rs 1,500 crore.

Noronha believes that participation from private players in the defence segment is likely to increase due to the new government’s policies. “The government is planning to fund 80 per cent of development costs of Future Infantry Combat Vehicle (FICV) so that they can get hold of IPRs  and that will certainly encourage more participation from private players,” Noronha said.

Meanwhile, Tata Motors has bagged an order worth around Rs 900 crore to supply around 1,200 of its high-mobility 6X6 multi-axle trucks, from the Indian Army – the single largest order awarded to an Indian private OEM (original equipment manufacturers) in land systems—under the DPP by the Indian army.