Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group has bagged 12 of the 32 Defence manufacturing licences cleared by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP).
With the Centre easing the foreign direct investment norms for the Defence sector, a number of Indian companies have been queuing up to get licences to set up manufacturing units.
On Friday, the Centre gave 32 licences to companies, including OIS Advanced Technology from Uttar Pradesh, C DET Explosives Industries in Maharashtra, Premier Explosives of Tamil Nadu, and Ideal Detonators Pvt Ltd in Telangana.
Of the cases approved by the 5{+t}{+h} licensing committee meeting of the DIPP, eight subsidiaries of Reliance Defence, itself a subsidiary of Reliance Infrastructure, bagged the licence to manufacture the full spectrum of defence equipment, including aircraft, helicopters, missiles, and land systems.
Reliance Infrastructure itself has just started the process of completing the acquisition of Pipavav Defence and Offshore Engineering Company.
On November 16, the company said it had received all the approvals, including from the Competition Commission of India and the Gujarat Maritime Board, for the acquisition and management control of Pipavav Defence.
Reliance Infrastructure has a manufacturing unit at its aerospace park in Mihan, Nagpur, where the Maharashtra government has allotted 289 acres to a subsidiary, Reliance Aero-structure Ltd.
The greenfield Defence projects by Reliance Infrastructure’s subsidiaries will cover all critical requirements of the Armed Forces under the ‘Make in India’ programme. The company will set up assembly lines and manufacturing facilities for fixed wing aircraft, aero-structure for commercial transport aircraft, and helicopters for both Defence and commercial use at Mihan.
In the case of land systems, the company’s manufacturing facility at Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, will have a rotary wing helicopter unit, while the Pipavav Defence acquisition would cater to maritime systems.