Tata firms call for more investments in defence sector

Aero India 2015 will be held during February 18-22 in Bengaluru

Emphasising the need to develop indigenous capability, Tata group companies said on Wednesday that more investments should flow into the domestic defence sector.

“It is quite startling how little FDI (foreign direct investment) has actually flown into India in the past 15 years. The government’s statistics suggest a mere $4.94 million has cumulatively come as FDI in the defence and aerospace sector in India since 2000,” said Mukund Rajan, a member of the group executive council and brand custodian at Tata Sons.

He was speaking at a press conference in Bengaluru on Wednesday ahead of the Aero India 2015, to be held there during February 18-22.

The Tata group has been associated with Aero India for the past several years.

Tata group companies deliberated on their various achievements over the years in the field of defence and aviation, including the recent Agni-V missile launch, which took place from the Tata Power strategic engineering division (SED)’s indigenously designed transporter–cum–tilter mobile road launcher system.

They said, Tata Power SED will invest around Rs 500 crore in a manufacturing plant at Vemagal in Karnataka to enhance the capability and capacity to meet the growing business needs.  

According to Rajan, the consolidated revenues of these companies for FY15 is around Rs 2,500 crore.

Tata Group’s current order book size in the defence and aerospace sector is in excess of Rs 10,000 crore ($1.6 billion), he added.

In FY14, various Tata group companies had invested as much as Rs 320 crore in the defence and aerospace sector.