Tata Motors mulls investment of Rs600 crore on FICVs for army

Tata Motors today said it may invest about Rs600 crore for the development of Futuristic Infantry Combat Vehicles (FICV) and set up a manufacturing plant for rolling out FICVs for the Indian Army.

According to Ravi Pisharody, president (commercial vehicle business unit) the development cost of FICV could be around Rs300 crore and a manufacturing plant for the same could be about Rs250 crore or above.

He added however that the setting up of the plant would depend on the company getting orders from the government. Besides Tata Motors, Larsen & Toubro (L&T), Mahindra Defence and OFP are in the race to bag an order for 2,000 FICVs to the defence forces. The tender process has not been completed yet.

Pisharody said the plant might be set up in Dharwad (Karnataka) if Tatas got the order.  Tata Motors' revenue from the defence business is estimated to have increased by 50 per cent to Rs1,000 crore in the current financial year with the company looking at a growth of 25-35 per cent in the next financial year.

The company, having an order book of Rs250-300 crore, is also looking to states like Maharashtra and Jharkhand for supply of landmine-protected vehicles. The company is also looking at the Middle East market for sale of its defence vehicles.

Currently, it exports products to Sri Lanka, Nepal, African nations and the US agencies in Afghanistan.