As the Defence Expo continues to showcase equipments produced by foreign firms, the main highlight may be the prowess of Indian firms. Speaking to Bloomberg TV India, Tata Motors Defence Business Head VS Noronha said the company has tied up with many foreign technology providers, and is taking Make in India seriously. Tata is placing a lot of emphasis on the wheeled platform Kestrel, in which it plans to put anti-tank missiles, and evaluating the light armoured multi-role vehicles that are another major requirement of the armed forces.

What’s the highlight of this year’s Defence Expo? How are Indian firms faring compared with foreign defence manufacturers as far as the new arms display is concerned?

We are very pleased that for the first time in Defence Expo we have got a live demonstration of our products going. It is a matter of great pride for Tata Motors that right behind the Arjun tank you can see the Tata Kestrel, doing obstacle course at the live demonstration area. The wide audience that we got to see this live demo is very encouraging for us. Apart from Kestrel, we also have Tata mine protected vehicles and we also have 6/6 high mobility vehicle and the new generation 2.5 tonne Tata model.

What are the other opportunities that you look at going forward and how significantly will you enhance capex into this space?

Apart from the FICV (fighting infantry combat vehicle) we are placing a lot of emphasis on the wheeled platform Kestrel. We will be putting anti-tank and missiles on it and we have a programme where we try to evaluate the light armoured multi-role vehicle, which is another requirement of the armed forces. Following that is the light specialist vehicle, so there is a whole line-up of programmes in the land systems arena for the Indian army and we are taking part in all those programmes. As and when the envelope opens and L1 is declared we get more business.

How are the foreign companies looking at the whole push by the government on Make in India and how are the foreign partners reacting to the changes in DPP?

Very positively. We have tied up with many foreign technology providers and we are taking Make in India seriously. Our partner in FICV is General Dynamics and they are initiating talks with Bharat Forge for local manufacturer of guns.

We can see through the government policy of Make in India that things are beginning to move and local manufacturer of defence equipment is now becoming a reality.

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