In line with the efforts to indigenise the defence sector under ‘Make  in India' initiative, Larsen & Toubro (L&T), India's multinational engineering conglomerate, and Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to cater to the needs of evolving domestic and export markets for defence products and systems.

The MoU seeks to leverage the capabilities of both the firms for meeting the growing requirements of the Indian Armed Forces. The MoU also intends to leverage the well-developed supply chain, vast experience and expertise of BEL and L&T to synergise and enhance exports in the defence sector.

Jayant Patil, Whole-time Director (Defence) and Member of L&T Board, said, "This MoU offers an opportunity for public-private sector partnership between two industry leaders  in Defence Equipment & Systems to synergise their strengths to deliver to the Indian Armed Forces and to the export market contemporary products with high indigenous content."

The decision to formalise the partnership through this MoU, a key milestone for both L&T and for BEL in their long-term relationship, was made after extensive evaluation and identifying the core competencies and strong synergies between the two of them. L&T and BEL have collaborated and partnered on co-development and production of major subsystems involving complex technologies and sophisticated weapon systems such as Akash Missile launchers and other radar platforms for Indian MoD orders.

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