Sunday, April 2 2006 11:58 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: Marking the private sector's first major foray into defence production in India, a Tata group company and Larsen and Toubro have bagged orders worth Rs 200 crore for producing the indigenously developed Multi-Barrel Rocket Launcher Pinaka.

As per the order issued by the army headquarters on March 29, Advanced Material Division of Tata Power and the Heavy Engineering division of L&T would produce around 40 Pinaka MRBLs each, informed sources said.

Confirming the development, Tata Power (strategic electronic division) CEO Rahul Chaudhry told sources that his company would deliver the first launchers to the army in six months.

"The order has materialised and we would deliver the first launchers to the army in six months," he said.

This will be the first major confirmed order from the services after defence production was opened to private sector in 2001, he added.

A top L&T official said the order was expected any time and that the company would deliver the rocket launchers within the stipulated time frame.

Both the business houses have to deliver the entire order for the two army regiments in three years.

Developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) as part of its integrated guided missile development programme, Pinaka is an all weather, indirect fire, free flight, area saturation weapon system.

It consists of a Multi-Barrel Rocket Launcher vehicle with 12 tubes, three replenishment vehicles, a loader-cum-replenishment vehicle and a fire control system. The weapon system has already entered the services.