Tata Motors says it meets all norms for infantry combat vehicle project

Company says it would talk to the govt and the ministry about including consolidated revenues as its wholly-owned subsidiaries form an integral part of the parent

Tata Motors has said that it continues to be a strong bidder for the defence ministry's future infantry combat vehicle (FICV) project and along with the Tata Group has the required credentials and track record.

In a press statement, the company said it met all the requisite criteria for bidding for the FICV project and its confidence stems from its robust technical strength, the size of its Indian assets, a strong balance sheet and the backing of the Tata Group, with other group companies joining hands in the consortium.

It said the evaluation of the bid would be based on technical and financial parameters, the latter accounting for about 26 per cent weightage. The remaining assessment criteria parameters were all technical: technical capability assessment (32 per cent), critical technology assessment (34 per cent) and technical specification assessment (eight per cent).

Tata Motors said it was confident of fulfilling all criteria, even with the defence ministry's clarification that bidding companies must have capital assets in India, and the turnover in India will be taken into account for the threshold limit.

However, the statement said Tata Motors would discuss with the government and the ministry about including consolidated revenues as its wholly-owned subsidiaries form an integral part of the parent company, including in stock exchange listings, and its consolidated revenues offer strong financial support to the project.

FICV, it said, was one of the projects that would bring the group companies together to work collaboratively.