New BEL facility to help expand missile system business

A defence system integration complex, spread over 900 acres, will be set up in Andhra Pradesh by Bharat Electronic Ltd (BEL) to enable it to expand its missile system business, an official statement said.

The facility, set to be established at Palasamudram in Anantapuram district of Andhra Pradesh, will enable BEL to expand its missile systems business and will carry out manufacturing and integration for the ongoing and upcoming projects.

The foundation stone will be laid by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Wednesday, the statement said.

The facility will have state-of-the-art infrastructure such as assembly hangars and hard stands for radars and weapon integration, RF radiation sources for target simulation, automatic test equipment, clean rooms for electronic assembly, non-explosive and explosive integration buildings, missile storage buildings, environmental test chambers and others.

It will be the largest such facility in the country, the statement said.

Chairman and managing director S.K. Sharma meanwhile said BEL is also strengthening its infrastructure in areas like night vision technologies and elements of multifunction radars.

"Various new surface-to-air missile (SAM) programmes are proposed to be taken up by BEL, namely quick reaction SAM, long range SAM, medium range SAM, etc. in addition to Network Centric Communication and Electronic Warfare systems," Sharma said.

The statement added that BEL also has plans to expand this facility for the creation of a Military Industrial Complex to set up the necessary ecosystem for manufacture of electronic components and equipment for various upcoming defence projects in collaboration with SMEs as part of the government's 'Make in India' initiative.

"The proposed complex will be a world-class facility with automated guided vehicles and industrial robots for material movement and handling. The facility will be built in stages as the various projects mature and the estimated investment will be about Rs.500 crore over a period of 3 to 4 years," the statement added.