Bharat Forge Ltd has emerged as the lowest bidder in the over ₹6,000 crore worth contract for 307 Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System (ATAGS) for the Indian Army.
The contract will be split between the Bharat Forge and Tata Advanced Systems Ltd (TASL) in the ratio of 60:40 as both are development partners of the gun originally developed by the DRDO.
In March 2023, the Ministry of Defence, had accorded the Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for procurement of the 155mm/52cal ATAGS along with the Gun Towing Vehicles (GTVs) for the Indian Army. The ATAGs will replace ageing Bofors guns with the Indian Army.
“After completion of due technical evaluation process and commercial bids opening, the contract negotiation procedure between Bharat Forge Ltd and the Indian Ministry of Defence is currently underway,” the Bharat Forge officially stated on Tuesday.
However, the TASL did not share any update on their bidding process. TASL sources just stated that price negotiations are happening and we will announce when the deal is through.
Sources aware of development said that Contract Negotiation Committee (CNC), formed by the MoD, is over with the final contract negotiations. The CNC is formed to conduct commercial negotiations with the lowest bidder.
As Bharat Forge has emerged L1, it will get 60 percent of the contract which in terms of value would be more than ₹4000 crore while the TASL will have to manufacture 40 per cent of 307 guns for approx. ₹2000 crore.
“We shall inform the stock exchange as soon as the contract negotiation procedure is concluded which is expected before the end of the current financial year 2024-25,” Pune-based Bharat Forge stated.
The Indian Army had carried out comprehensive trials in desert and high altitude to check towed gun’s capabilities before the bidding process entered into the final stages of negotiations about a fortnight ago.
India has already exported ATAGs to Armenia and some other countries are also showing interest in them.