BDL & Indian Army sign contract worth Rs 471.41 crore for refurbishment of missiles

New Delhi: (DW Bureau) Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) and the Indian Army signed a contract worth Rs 471.41 crore for the refurbishment of IGLA – 1M missiles. After the Refurbishment, a fresh lease of life will be given to the missile for a period of 10 years. The value of the contract is Rs 471.41 crore, which was signed on Wednesday in New Delhi.

The company, in addition to carrying out refurbishment, deals with the manufacture and supply of guided missiles and associated equipment, Underwater Weapon Systems, Airborne Weapon Systems, Ground Support Equipment and product life cycle support.

In order to give momentum to its efforts towards self-reliance, BDL has also built up its in-house R&D capabilities primarily focussing on design and engineering activities. The company is leveraging emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence to develop futuristic weapons for the armed forces.

To tap the export potential of its products, BDL has forayed into the international market by offering its exportable products to friendly foreign countries. The Company has already exported Torpedoes to a friendly foreign country in the past. BDL is also receiving leads from several countries for its products.

To upgrade its technological capability, BDL has made a paradigm shift in its manufacturing processes by leveraging niche technologies, adopting practices like industry 4.0, operating the latest Surface Mounted Devices assembly lines etc. These have proved to be some of the enablers for the Company to contribute towards making the nation 'Atmanirbhar' (self-reliant) in the Defence sector and also to export it's 'Made in India' products to friendly foreign nations.

To further take this forward, BDL has also taken up several initiatives to be a part of the global supply chain by entering into MoUs and agreements with foreign original equipment manufacturers.

BDL, as a part of its expansion plans, is setting up a new unit at Jhansi in the UP Defence corridor, which will be its sixth manufacturing unit and first one in northern India. Prime Minister of India laid the foundation stone for the new unit last month, where BDL will be manufacturing a propulsion system that will be used in all Anti-Tank Guided missiles and futuristic missiles manufactured by the company.

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