How has been the last year for defence manufacturing industry?
The defence manufacturing industry in India is receiving a lot of attention and experiencing a lot of activity. Policy makers are alive to the need and importance of this industry and are continuously improving the policy framework. All this has resulted in new investments in capital, people and technology and is encouraging new partnerships. The industry is in the early phases and thus will experience rapid growth for the foreseeable long term. Domestic companies are experiencing growth from domestic demand as well as by partnering with global OEMs.
An interesting statistic - according to the Secretary of Defence Production, Indian industry has been doubling the defence exports in the last three years. Three years ago, the total defence export from India was only about Rs. 1,500 crore. Last year, the figure reached Rs. 4,500 crore. This year, by November, we have done Rs. 7,500 crore export, and by March we are going to cross Rs. 10,000 crore. While the numbers are very modest, the rate of growth certainly suggests that domestic defence manufacturing will see very exciting
times ahead.
How is India's emphasis on defence manufacturing encouraging your company?
With the Government's emphasizes on defence manufacturing, we foresee a definite growth in this sector. Domestic Defence and Aerospace manufacturing present a great outlook for the future and hence we are very enthusiastic about the emerging opportunities and possibilities of sustained growth in the coming years.
In order to benefit from this, Godrej has developed the required building blocks - required infrastructure, technologies, competencies, people & qualifications and approvals. We also have purchase orders / contracts for long term supplies and are expanding our reach to newer customers and geographies. On the whole we expect very exciting times of sustained growth in this
sector.
Can you please tell us about some of the prestigious projects that you are undertaking in the defence sector?
Manufacturing of Air Frame assemblies for the BrahMos project is one of the prestigious projects undertaken by Godrej. We started working on the Air Frame assemblies for the land version missile in 2001 and have delivered more than 100 sets of assemblies till date. We have also won the order for 100 sets of Air Frame assemblies for the air launched version of BrahMos missile for which production has started.
Research & development plays an important role in the manufacturing sector. Tell us about your R&D efforts?
Our R&D has been project-led and application-oriented. One may call it sponsored R&D. We at Godrej have developed hundreds of processes in all fields of manufacturing - forming, fabrication & welding, machining, surface treatments, heat treatments and assembly & testing - for multiple projects, materials, service
conditions, etc.
Over and above, we also work on developing technologies and capabilities that are futuristic in nature. For example, there is work being done to develop rubber and composites for special applications. However, such pure R&D efforts are a small portion of what we do for developing technologies for projects that are engineered-to-order.
How do you foresee Indian market in the defence manufacturing sector growing in coming five years? How are you preparing yourself to meet this demand?
As mentioned earlier we clearly see that the emphasis by the government to promote domestic Defence production will provide an opportunity for domestic manufacturers. New programmes, purchases by the government, policy to promote indigenous content - offsets policy, and growing realisation amongst global majors on the competitiveness and capabilities of Indian manufacturers will ensure steady growth in this sector.
Based on this assessment we have been steadily growing our volumes. They still remain very modest, but we are focusing in developing capability and competence. Investment for growth will be made in a synchronised manner.
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