Mahindra group arm that makes vehicles for defence and security forces, has bagged an order to manufacture and supply bullet-proof vehicles for the Mumbai police.
Mahindra Defence Systems (MDS), the Mahindra group arm that makes vehicles for defence and security forces, has bagged an order to manufacture and supply bullet-proof vehicles for the Mumbai police.
The company will supply to the Mumbai police not only Rakshak, the bullet-proof vehicle used by the Indian Army, but also Marksman and an armoured Scorpio. Mahindra Defence is the only home affairs and defence ministries approved provider of defence vehicles in India.
Brigadier Khutub Hai, chief executive officer, Mahindra Defence Systems, said the Mumbai police would be the first in India to use the Marksman, the country’s first armoured capsule-based light bullet-proof vehicle. It protects defence, paramilitary and police personnel from small firearm and grenade attacks. “It has the ability to be used for counter-terror as well as conventional roles,” he said.
Besides this, the company, through a tender, is in the race for an order to supply 800-odd Rakshaks to the Indian Army, which is already using 200 Rakshaks.
The completion of the Mumbai police order will take 4-6 months to complete and the vehicles will be rolled out of the company’s manufacturing facility at Faridabad in the National Capital Region (NCR). The facility has the capacity to produce about 350 vehicles annually. This will be ramped up to 1,000, depending on orders, which are only from defence and security forces.
The Faridabad facility is equipped to completely design the vehicles. “We do complete reengineering of the chassis and suspension so the vehicle can bear the additional weight of the armoured ballistic protection material, which is used to cover it,” Hai said.
He said so far, the company has supplied over 700 bullet-proof vehicles to the Indian military, paramilitary forces and various police departments in J&K, Delhi, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur, Chhattisgarh, and Orissa.
“These vehicles are also exported to Sri Lanka, Ghana, Nepal, Tobago and Trinidad. Many African countries have also shown interest in our defence vehicles,” Hai added.
The armoured ballistic protection material that covers the vehicles is imported from the company’s international supply chain in Sweden, Germany, Israel and the US. Hai said the vehicle is designed depending upon the threat level anticipated by customers and costs vary between Rs 30 lakh and Rs 40 lakh. These vehicles provide protection against attacks by AK-47, heavy calibre weapons and under-belly grenades.
“Rakshak will be used by the police as it has proved its robustness in J&K where it has saved soldiers from mine explosions and rifle fires,” Hai said.
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