Chief of Army Staff General MM Naravane on Monday interacted with top officials of Larsen & Turbo, Adani Group, Mahindra Defence, Adani Group and TATA Group.

Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) General MM Naravane on Monday, September 13, interacted with top officials of Adani Group, Larsen & Turbo, Mahindra Defence, Adani Group and Tata Group. During the meet, the Army chief praised the business entities for their contribution to self-reliant India and the Indian Army.

In a tweet, ADG PI - Indian Army informed: "General MM Naravane #COAS interacted with business heads of Mahindra Defence, Adani Group, Larsen & Toubro and Tata Group. #COAS complimented the business houses for stellar contributions towards Aatmanirbhar Bharat & capability enhancement of #IndianArmy."

Private companies have got a boost under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiative. In January 2021, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had approved a ban on the import of 108 military systems and weapons such as hi-tech corvettes, tank engines, airborne early warning systems and radars. These military essentials will be made in India, he had informed.

Last month, Mahindra Defence Systems bagged a Rs 1,349.95 Crore contract to manufacture an integrated Anti-Submarine Warfare Defence Suite (IADS) for the next-generation warships of the Indian Navy. The Mahindra & Mahindra's company would be supplying 14 IADS for the Indian Navy.

"It is the first major contract with the private sector meant for underwater detection and protection from threats. This contract once again epitomises the success of the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative," Mahindra Defence Systems' Chairman SP Shukla had said.

Reportedly, Adani's Alpha Design is given a contract to manufacture Skystriker drones in collaboration with Israel's Elbit System. Last year, Larsen & Turbo was awarded a contract to set up an advanced IT-enabled system to operate the Armed Forces Network under the Network of Spectrum (NFS).