Amara Raja arm forays into defence electronics segment

Mumbai: Amara Raja Group's specialised engineering R&D firm, Amara Raja Design Alpha (ARDA) on Wednesday announced its entry in the mission-critical defence electronics space and said it has developed an indigenous Power Conditioning Cabinet (PCC) for naval sonar systems.

The company said it will expand in the next phase into the design of power amplifiers, signal interfaces and power amplifier cabinets, helping build a comprehensive indigenous ecosystem for naval sonar systems.

The initiative represents a meaningful contribution by a private sector technology company to India's growing naval indigenisation efforts.


About 61 per cent of the system's components will be indigenous, enabling around 40 per cent cost efficiencies through advanced power engineering and local manufacturing.

The Indian Navy's budget has grown from Rs 49,623 crore in 2020-21 to over Rs 1,03,548 crore in 2025-26, reflecting India's expanding investment in maritime capability, the company said.

Within this architecture, sonar systems form a critical layer of underwater surveillance and anti-submarine warfare across the Navy's fleet, it said.

"We are excited that our expertise in electronics and power system design and manufacturing can contribute directly to our nation's defence systems. This development reflects our commitment to building deep, long-term capability in strategically important technologies alongside India's defence research institutions," said Suresh Nair, Managing Director at ARDA.

ARDA said the units developed by the company will comply with global standards, ensuring reliability in demanding naval environments.

The PCC will support loads of up to 160 kW, delivering stable, high-reliability power distribution for sonar systems, where acoustic detection equipment requires extremely high power quality during sustained maritime operations, it added. PTI