Two Indian companies in fray for over Rs 10,000 crore Army deal

NEW DELHI: In a major boost to the private sector, Defence Ministry has shortlisted two indigenous agencies including Larsen and Toubro, Tata Power and HCL and the state-owned Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) for the over Rs 10,000 crore tactical communication project of the Army.

Two companies, including a private sector consortium for the Tactical Communication System (TCS) project of the Army, have been down-selected, Defence Ministry sources said here.

They will now submit a Detailed Project Report (DPR) on whose basis further steps will be taken to select the final winner, they said.

It was a significant step towards fulfilling army's requirement to replace its older radio network system to handle communication requirements in battle zone, they said.

TCS is a wide network deployed to provide secure communications infrastructure and network enabled operating environment to tactical forces in a battle zone.

Commenting on the Defence Ministry decision to select the two companies, the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) said, "Army has selected a private sector Special Purpose Company consisting of Larsen & Toubro, Tata Power SED and M/s HCL Infosys Ltd as a designated agency (DA) for the prestigious TCS project. Both DAs are supposed to make the prototype and out of two the lowest bidder will be given the final project."

"This selection is an outcome of rigorous rounds of scrutiny and years of concerted efforts put in by the Corps of Signals, army, Defence Ministry and Indian Industry together," it added.

The TCS project would be the first programme under the 'Make' clause in the Defence Procurement procedure (DPP). Under 'Make' programmes, Government provides 80 per cent funding for the development phase and rest comes from the industry.