India to have world's largest armoured vehicle mfg unit

New Delhi, Mar 11 (UNI) The world's largest armoured vehicle manufacturing unit is to be set up in India by this mid-year under a 51:49 joint venture between the British armoured vehicle maker Armet and the country's Indian technical textile producer Shri Lakshmi Cotsyn.

The facility -- to come up at Malwan, near Kanpur -- is expected to be operational by July later this year with an initial roll-out capacity of 300 luxury armoured vehicles for VIPs per annum.

The unit would be later expanded to manufacture military armoured vehicles for supply to the Indian Armed Forces and other countries across the world, said Shri Lakshmi Cotsyn Chairman MP Agarwal.

The installed capacity of the venture -- to be known as Armet Armoured Vehicles&Shri Lakshmi Ltd -- would be raised within the next three years to 600 vehicles.

To begin with, the unit will be an assembly-cum-manufacturing facility rolling out armoured vehicles for use in money transfer by banks for ATMs and providing security to important personalities like Ministers, Members of Parliament, diplomats and other dignitaries.

Shri Lakshmi Chairman Agarwal, describing the venture as ''an extention of our technical textile business to the defence forces'', said the initial investment for the venture had been placed at Rs 25 crore.

Shri Lakshmi Cotsyn Ltd -- a publicly traded textile company -- has its manufacturing base in Kanpur.

For Armet, this would be its first such manufacturing unit in Asia. It operates facilities in the United States, Canada, Russia and Malta. Till recently, it had also been operating a small unit in Oman -- this facility is being closed down and would be replaced by the greenfield India unit.

Armet Armoured vehicles President William Whyte said the venture would provide ''a significant addition to our global manufacturing facilities''.

The Indian venture would be the base for all Armet business in Asia -- currently being served by North America. ''In the near future, we are looking at building India as a base of our concept vehicles which would be an armoured vehicle for mass-use,'' observed Whyte.

Already, Armet has an Indian supplier on its list -- Eicher for vehicle chassis. Others that it patronises for the same requirement are Mitsubishi, Isuzu and Toyota. The chassis are then built upon using Armet's specialised techniques to convert them into specialised armoured vehicles that cost about Rs 2.5 crore, said Whyte.

With Armet's exports running at 99 per cent of production, the company has established a worldwide reputation for excellence and thoroughness in ''the art of armouring vehicles'', said a proud Whyte.

And taking Armet into ''another dimension in the armouring world'', the Indian facility would have the capability to make specialised components apart from getting into the assembly of armoured vehicles and would form the hub for Armet operations for South East Asia, North Africa, Arabian Gulf and West Asia.

''We intend to go totally inhouse in the field of 'Armet Armoured Vehicles&Shri Lakshmi Ltd' operations within the next eight years....'' Shri Lakshmi Cotsyn, a Rs 363-crore company, is a leading name in manufacturing of Blended Suiting and Shirting, Cotton fusible interlining, Embroidery and Quilted Fabrics. The company has also been engaged in manufacturing specialised products like PU coated disruptive printed waterproof Nylon Fabric, Security related equipment including Ballistic Body Armours, Web equipment and Sleeping Bags for high altitude for defense segment.

UNI