Ashok Leyland expects to increase defence business to Rs 5,000 cr

Claims to have developed capablities to bid for 20-5% of tenders of the Indian Army

Hinduja Group flagship firm Ashok Leyland is looking at growing the defence business to Rs 5,000 crore from existing Rs 500 crore in the coming years.

Vinod K Dasari, managing director, Ashok Leyland said that the next five years the company plans to expand its defence business at least three times. He was talking on the sidelines after showcasing indigenously developed Intelligent Exhaust Gas Recirculation (iEGR) technology for BS4 engine.

"We have developed capablities to bid for 20-25 per cent of the tenders of the Indian Army as against one per cent earlier," said Amandeep Singh, who heads the defence business at Ashok Leyland.

The company has bagged tenders for mine protected vehicles and bullet proof vehicles from the security agencies and targets threefold business increase from its defence vertical, he said.

Speaking about Light Commercial Vehicle, Nitin Seth, president - LCV, Ashok Leyland said that company plans to double its market to 30 per cent in the domestic LCV business. To support the target, the company every three months will launch one new product for the next two years atleast.

The company plans to invest around Rs 400 crore in LCV business in the next two years.