Indian engineering major Larsen & Toubro has formed a 74/26 Joint Venture with Cassidian, for defence electronics. The JV, based in Talegaon and Bangalore where L&T has its defence facilities, will cover manufacturing, design, engineering, distribution and marketing in the fields of electronic warfare, radars, avionics and mobile systems for military applications. Around $20 million will be invested initially.
Cassidian, which has over 28,000 employees worldwide, recently opened a new engineering centre in Bangalore to provide consultancy and other services to the aerospace and defence companies in India. “Along with the Indian integration capabilities twinned with our high tech products we will look to initially cater to Indian needs. Going ahead we will also use this joint venture to supply products to the global markets,” said Bernd Wenzler, CEO of Cassidian.
L&T’s heavy engineering division manufactures and supplies custom designed and engineered critical equipment and systems to the needs of core-sector industries and the defence sector. Over 80% of the company’s revenues today come from the engineering and construction segment. Its defence business employs around 3,000 people and its product range includes naval combat systems, land based systems, missile systems etc…. Last fiscal year, the company had net sales of €5.9 billion