Tata Motors has bagged an order for 1,200 multi-axle 6×6 trucks to the Indian Army – the single largest land systems order awarded to an indigenous Indian company by the Indian Armed Forces.
The manufacturer’s high-mobility all-terrain 6×6 multi-axle vehicles have just completed 25 months of product trials, in which Tata says they demonstrated their performance in the most demanding conditions.
“Tata Motors is extremely proud to have bagged the single largest order, among Indian OEM’s from the Indian army, for the most technologically advanced high-mobility load carrier system ever built here in India,” commented Vernon Noronha, Tata Motors VP for defence and government business.
“We will shortly commence delivery of these high-mobility vehicles,’ continued Noronha, adding that the order is a validation of Tata Motor’s strategy and its strong potential in the security forces sector.
Tata Motors has pledged to double its defence revenues over the next three years to $600m (from $316m, or 3% of its total revenues), betting on the government’s push to break away from the overseas supply (70% of the total) of its arms.
The government has pledged to ring-fence $100bn in defence deals over the next decade for indigenous producers, and Indian companies are investing billions in everything from armoured trucks to submarines in the race to win their share.
Tata now has a defence order book for $236m, and next hopes to compete for 700 light armoured multi-roll vehicles and 100 wheeled armoured personnel carriers.
“A year after the present government came into power and files started moving, there was a very quick acceleration of orders,” added Noronha, in a hat-tip to the efficacy of the Modi administration.
