Bengaluru, 12 April 2018: At Def. Expo 2018, Chennai, Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and Mahindra Defence Systems Ltd committed to a long-term partnership through a MoU, to jointly address emerging opportunities in the domestic market under the policy initiatives of the Government of India, like ‘Make in India’ and the ‘Export Promotion Policy’ of the Ministry of Defence to target the export market.

BEL has the expertise in design, development, engineering, manufacture of Radar & Weapon Systems, NCS and Communications systems, Electronic Warfare & Avionics, Naval Systems, Electro-optics products, Tank Electronics & Gun Systems, Satcom systems, Strategic Components and select Civilian products, whereas Mahindra Defence has the expertise in manufacture, maintenance of Defence equipment, Light Military Vehicle, Armoured Vehicles, Aerospace/Aviation Platforms, Simulators, Electronics, Airborne Equipment, Naval Equipment and materials for Defence sector.

Mr SP Shukla, Group President - Aerospace & Defence & Chairman, Mahindra Defence, said that, “Both BEL and Mahindra Defence are world class engineering companies. To give one example, together we have capabilities in mobility, survivability, lethality, electronics and communications, making us ideal partners for new development as well as for upgrade of in service combat vehicles. This partnership can be grown not only to meet the requirements of Indian Armed Forces but also to target exports to other friendly countries.”

Mr Gowtama, CMD BEL said, “We are pleased to come together. We are keen to bring to the table our in-house expertise as well as technical know-how to the current and future design of new generation defence systems and products We are confident that the two of us will work together to contribute to indigenous defence production.”

Mrs Anandi Ramalingam, Director (Marketing), BEL, and Mr N Raveeswaran, Head, Strategic Business Partnerships, Aerospace and Defence, Mahindra Defence, signed the MoU documents in the presence of Mr M V Gowtama, CMD, BEL, and Mr S P Shukla, Group President - Aerospace & Defence & Chairman, Mahindra Defence.