By Manu Sharma
Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) has decided to set up a green field project in the defence sector in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh with an investment of about Rs.500 crore. The new project to come up at Lepakshi will be used for weapon systems.
Speaking to the media, SK Sharma, Chairman & Managing Director of Bharat Electronics Ltd said, “We are on the verge of acquiring land of about 1,000 acres and currently are in advanced talks with the Andhra Pradesh government. We choose this location as it would be ideal and closer to our headquarters in Bangalore.”
The new facility will focus on design, development and production of all kinds of weapon systems such as fire control, missile systems and other weapon upgrade programmes. The facility will be ready in the next two years, he said.
“The facility is expected to be ready in two years and we plan to develop weapon systems keeping in mind future contracts from Army, Navy and Air Force,” he added.
The PSU sought 900 to 1,000 acres of land at Penukonda for the unit which they said would provide employment to 500 local people. Besides, the plant would spur growth of ancillary industries in automobile and transport sectors.
The new facility will be a specialized plant being set up for to manufacture all kinds of weapon systems such as fire control, missile systems and weapon upgrade programme among others.
The Bangalore-based PSU, is set to commence mass production of Akash Missile System (AMS) for the Indian Army.
Sharma also indicated that there could be more orders from the Indian Air Force for additional squadrons. However, nothing is finalized yet, he added.
"We are already supplying this missile system to the Indian Air Force (IAF) and recently completed trials for the Indian Army. We are already manufacturing the system for IAF, while the production for the Army will commence very soon and will be delivered to them over the next two to four years,” adds Sharma.
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