Tata Motors To Sell Its Defence And Aerospace Divisions

Tata Motors has been supplying vehicles to our country’s defence forces since 1958. Over the years, it has delivered over 1,50,000 trucks, buses and SUVs to the Indian military and paramilitary forces. But not any longer as Tata Motors announced that it will sell its defence business to group entity Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL). Additionally, it will also sell its shareholding in its wholly-owned subsidiary, TAL Manufacturing Solutions, to TASL for a sum of Rs 625 crore.

The latest move is in line with Tata Motor’s plan to drive Turnaround 2.0 and take necessary steps to further its defense business by leveraging the scale and strengths of the unified aerospace and defence entity.

Speaking on the deal, Guenter Butschek, CEO and MD of Tata Motors, said, “Tata has been a strategic partner to the Indian Ministry of Defence in defence mobility solutions for several decades. We will continue providing civilian logistics vehicles to the Defence cutomers. On our transition to a full range combat vehicle player, we realised that our current portfolio is small and we need scale to unlock its true potential. We believe Tata Advanced Systems Limited wil be better equipped to execute larger and more complex projects and be more globally competitive as part of the larger Tata Group.”

Currently, Tata Motors exports its range of defence vehicles to SAARC, ASEAN and African regions. Its range of 12x12, 8x8, and 6x6 multi-axle trucks are used by leading missile manufacturers across the world. Apart from this, the company also supplies its vehicles to the UN peacekeeping forces and agencies involved in aid and development such as GSA, KBR, Oxfam and RONCO.