Saturday, October 04, 2014: Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India, has given official approval for the incorporation of a new joint venture company, BEL-THALES Systems Limited, and the approval has been confirmed by India defence Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and Thales.
The primary focus for this JV company will be designing, development, marketing, supply and support of civilian and select defence radars for India and global markets. The first board meeting took place at BEL-THALES Systems Limited which showed that BEL holds 74 per cent stake at the company while Thales holds 26 per cent. The JV company initially will provide solutions for air surveillance, including Air Traffic Management radars, and select ground-based military radars. Their ultimate motive is to expand their prospects in other fields across the defence electronics domain.
The JV company will work closely with government laboratories and the Indian market and will have significant contribution in defence electronics sector. S. K. Sharma, chairman and managing director of BEL, showed his confidence in the new collaboration and said that it will benefit from technology transfers and support from Thales. Managing director of Thales in India, Eric Lenseigne, echoed the same that this new partnership is a benchmark step in their 60 years’ association with BEL.