Atmanirbhar Bharat: How Godrej & Boyce Is Contributing Towards Indigenization of Defence SectorThe company has strong partnership with several boutique MSMEs, who specialize in categories such as power sources, air conditioning equipment, hydraulics and pneumatics, controllers etc to increase indigenous production of defence equipment in India

As we clock into the 75th year of Independence, Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasized on the importance of self-sufficiency in defence. The indigenous industry would assume great significance in the future not only to meet India's requirement but would also contribute to export. In order to implement the vision to make Indiaatmanirbharin defence, the government has identified equipment that will be acquired from domestic companies and is committed to facilitating developing an appropriate ecosystem.

India aims to achieve the export target of INR 35,000 crore by 2025, defence minister Rajnath Singh had earlier mentioned.

Aligned with the government's goal of producing defence products worth INR 1.75 lakh crore by 2025, The Godrej & Boyce ('G&B'), flagship company of the Godrej Group, is strengthening India's defence sector with its indigenous manufacturing prowess. The company has been making significant investments in capacity expansion, technology partnerships and R&D. The company expects to continue a double-digit growth from its defence businesses.

The company serves the defence sector through several of its businesses viz Godrej Material Handling, Godrej Tooling, Godrej Security Solutions, Godrej Aerospace and Godrej Precision Engineering, the last three companies were present at the DefExpo 2022 in Gandhinagar to showcase their defence capabilities.

Work done

Godrej & Boyce has developed and supplied numerous mission-critical and complex equipment for aerospace, land & naval applications such as air-frames for programmes like Brahmos and MRSAM, mine-munition layer, counter mine flail, variety of launchers, watertight and pressure tight doors and hatches for vessels and submarines.

Godrej & Boyce is working on setting up a green field facility of over 100,000 square meters for the businesses at Khalapur in Maharashtra.

In the past, Defense Research & Development Laboratory (DRDL) in India was supplied the first airframe assembly from the company for the air-launched variant of BrahMos missile. Godrej has supplied close to 700 water-tight doors on INS Vikrant, where the company has also supplied Forklifts. From contributing to the medical bay of INS Vikrant to supplying ruggedised heavy duty forklifts to the army regiments, the company has established its presence in the sector.

What's next?

The company has strong partnership with several boutique MSMEs, who specialize in categories such as power sources, air conditioning equipment, hydraulics and pneumatics, controllers etc to increase indigenous production of defence equipment in India.

The product offerings of the business are enhanced with development of innovative solutions and integration of Robotics, IIoT and control systems together with their partners.

"Supporting India's autochthonous defence program presents us with excellent growth opportunities and we are building capabilities and right partnerships to benefit from it. All our businesses are actively engaging with customers, innovating, investing and expanding with the purpose of making India self-reliant in the defence sector. In addition, we have also been serving global majors by supplying them with complex precision systems. Over the years, exports have been very promising, ranging from 20 per cent to 40 per cent of our defence revenues. This gives us confidence to help achieve the government's defence export goals," said Kaustubh Shukla, head of strategic projects – industrial products businesses, Godrej & Boyce.

The Indian government has recently articulated a vision for defence production, outlining a strategy that would position 20 Indian defence manufacturing companies among the leading 100 defence corporations worldwide by 2047.

Godrej & Boyce was founded in 1897 and has contributed to India's journey of self-reliance through manufacturing. G&B has diversified into 14 businesses across various sectors from security, furniture and aerospace to infrastructure and defence.