The Jindal Group is exploring the defence material market with its offering of specialised steel for shipbuilding and missiles manufacturing.
Jindal Steel & Power (JSP) on Thursday inked an MoU with the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) for enhancing indigenous content in shipbuilding, including supply of indigenous marine-grade steel, which is vital for the nation’s maritime security, the Ministry of Defence said.
The move is part of the ministry’s initiative to reduce dependency on imports in defence manufacturing.
Towards that end, the maharatna PSU Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) had supplied about 30,000 tonnes of ‘DMR-grade’ speciality steel for the development of the first indigenously built aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant, which was commissioned into the Indian Navy on September 2, 2022, at Kochi.
SAIL had developed the DMR-grade plates in collaboration with the Indian Navy.
To ensure timely delivery, Jindal has designated plants for manufacturing the product, with the ICG overseeing the quality, grades and dimension of the marine-grade steel.
Jindal also announced it has developed 3 mm special alloy steel sheets that can withstand high pressure and high temperature during flight, for the Supersonic Missile-Assisted Release of Torpedo (SMART) system. Developed by Jindal Defence and Aerospace at the Hisar facility, these sheets have been supplied to Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
The company said it has been supplying materials for key DRDO and ISRO projects, including Chandrayaan.