Samtel to form further JVs in defence sector

New Delhi, Jul 10: Samtel Group, one of the leading manufacturers of display devices, today said it will expand its foray in the defence sector with more tie ups abroad.

''There are many tie-ups in the pipeline with major defence players outside the country. We are in the process of having a dialouge with them,'' Samtel CMD Satish Kaura told sources, after announcing a joint venture with the state-owned defence aerospace company Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) here.

He, however, declined to divulge names of any companies saying that the negotiations were in the initial stages.

Mr Kaura also said that the focus of Samtel, which manufacturers Cathod Ray Tubes (CRT) and Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) based displays, will shift to Plasma monitors next year.

''The prices of the latest sensation Plasma will see a drop of 50 per cent in the next three years. It will cost about Rs 50,000 only,'' he said.

On expansion of its production capacity, the CMD said the group has just finished revamping the CRT capacity from six million to 10 million per annum. ''This expansion took place in about two years.

As of now, we will stick to the 10 million target only.'' The company exports 30 per cent of its CRTs to Europe.

It has a manufacturing unit for avionics components in Germany, which it acquired from a defence leader in Europe -- Thales -- five years back.

Samtel manufacturers a wide range of display devices like colour and black and white TV picture tubes, tubes for avionics, medical and industrial applications, glass parts for picture tubes, components for tubes like deflection yokes and engineering services.

UNI