L&T and EADS to jointly explore opportunities in aerospace and defence

Bangalore: Larsen and Toubro Limited (L&T), India's engineering and construction giant, and the European aerospace and defence group EADS have agreed to jointly explore business opportunities in defence and aerospace. The two companies signed an agreement at the Aero India 2007 show here in the city under which they will set up working teams that will develop a joint business model, as well as common strategies, that will address several key segments of the aerospace and defence market.

M. V. Kotwal, senior executive vice president, L&T, and Daniel Baubil, executive vice president and also head of Global Industrial Development of EADS, signed the agreements. The memorandum of understanding (MoU), seeks to establish a long-term, profitable and stable relationship between the two companies that will enable them to address the needs of the aerospace and defence markets in India and around the world.

"Cooperation is a very important part of our industrial development strategy in India. The capability and capacity of L&T and EADS represent a great potential for synergies to offer competitive systems. We are keen to develop strong industrial teaming with L&T that will help to better meet future national and international requirements," said EADS' Daniel Baubil at the signing.

According to M. V. Kotwal, "the opening up and rapid growth of the defence market represents a major opportunity. This can lead to new forms of cooperation involving innovative technologies. As a company that has been supplying critical equipment and systems to the strategic sectors of defence and aerospace for over four decades, we welcome this opportunity to induct state of the art technology, and expand our range of high value offerings."

L&T is India's leading technology, engineering, manufacturing and construction company with global operations. L&T's Heavy Engineering Division operates at the upper end of the technology spectrum, and has for over six decades been at the forefront of introducing new processes, products and material into Indian manufacturing.

L&T also has strong international linkages through technology partnerships and ongoing relationships with global suppliers, consultants and customers.

EADS is a global leader in aerospace, defence and related services. In 2005, EADS generated revenues of € 34.2 billion and employed a workforce of over 113,000. The EADS group includes the aircraft manufacturer Airbus, the world's largest helicopter supplier Eurocopter and the joint venture MBDA, the international leader in missile systems. EADS is the major partner in the Eurofighter consortium, is the prime contractor for the Ariane launcher, develops the A400M military transport aircraft and is one of the largest industrial partners for the European satellite navigation system Galileo.