Thales : & Bharat Electronics form a joint venture in India
September 30, 2014 at 07:05 pm IST
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Navratna Defence Public Sector Undertaking Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and Thales announce that the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India, has approved the incorporation of their joint venture company, BEL-THALES Systems Limited, in late August this year. This joint venture (JV) Company will primarily focus on the design, development, marketing, supply and support of civilian and select defence radars for India and the global markets. The first board meeting of BEL-THALES Systems Limited took place on Friday 26 September.
BEL holds a 74 % stake while Thales holds 26% of the equity in the JV Company. The initial product portfolio of BEL-THALES Systems Limited will comprise innovative solutions for air surveillance, including Air Traffic Management radars, and select ground-based military radars. The ultimate objective of the JV is to expand its scope in other fields than radars, in the defence electronics domain.
BEL-THALES Systems will seek to work closely with Government laboratories and the Indian industry and will consequently become a decisive contributor for innovation in various fields of defence electronics.
Expressing his confidence in this JV, S. K. Sharma, Chairman and Managing Director of BEL, said, "We have always valued our partnership with Thales. We are confident that our JV Company will benefit from the significant technology transfers and support from Thales, and from the extensive industrial and design skills of BEL."
Thales is one of the European leaders in manufacturing and marketing of electronic equipment and systems for the defense and security, aerospace, and transportation sectors. Net sales break down by product group as follows:
- defense and security systems (53.4%): C4I defense and security systems (control and monitoring systems, communication, protection, cyber-security, and other systems), defense mission systems, naval systems, electronic war systems, drones, air operation systems (air defense, air surveillance), ground defense systems and missiles;
- aerospace systems (28.4%): avionics equipment (cockpit, cabin multimedia, and simulation equipment), space systems (satellites, payloads, etc.);
- digital identification and security solutions (18.2%).
Besides, the group owns a 35% stake in Naval Group (manufacture of naval equipment for defense and nuclear energy sectors).
Net sales are distributed geographically as follows: France (29.5%), the United Kingdom (6.6%), Europe (24.8%), the United States and Canada (14%), Asia (9.4%), Near and Middle East (6%), Australia and New Zealand (4.4%) and other (5.3%).