Indian, U.K. Companies To Jointly Bid on Indian Vehicle Programs

By vivek raghuvanshi

NEW DELHI - India's Mahindra & Mahindra and Britain's BAE Systems will form a joint venture to compete for sales of light strike vehicles to the Indian Army.

A senior executive of Mahindra & Mahindra, an automobile manufacturer that is part of the Mahindra Group, said the joint venture has been approved by India's Foreign Investment Promotion Board.

Mahindra & Mahindra is to initially invest $21.25 million over a three-year period. The Indian company will have a 74 percent equity stake in the joint venture and the remaining 26 percent will be held by BAE. The joint venture will be headquartered here, with a manufacturing facility built south of Faridabad, just outside of Delhi, according to a Nov. 30 news release.

The joint venture also will likely be involved "in a number of future artillery programs, including the M777 lightweight howitzer and the FH77B 155mm howitzer. It is envisaged that the JV will become a center of excellence for Indian artillery programs," according to the release.

The Indian Army plans to purchase more than 5,000 light strike vehicles over the next five years. The Army wants a four-wheel-drive vehicle capable of traveling at 80 kilometers per hour and armed with rocket launchers and gps navigation systems.

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Posted in: Armoured Vehicles,India