Cimmco, a subsidiary of wagon and railway coach manufacturer Titagarh Wagons Ltd, today said it has received industrial licence for manufacturing defence equipment.
"We have received the licence for manufacturing defence products. It will be manufactured from the Cimmco unit at Bharatpur in Rajasthan," Titagarh Wagon Managing Director Umesh Choudhary said.
The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) licence would help the group's foray into the defence sector in a big way, he added.
Titagarh Wagons had already expressed its intentions to convert its 75 per cent subsidiary, Cimmco, into a defence equipment manufacturing firm.
Choudhary said he plans to invest "heavily" in the next two years and orders worth in excess of Rs 100 crore are already in hand.
"We hope to start rolling out products like armoured vehicles by the end of this year," he added.
Cimmco's manufacturing facility is spread over 200 acres and is strategically located close to Mathura (Uttar Pradesh) and Bharatpur (Rajasthan) tank depots of the Indian Army, he said.
Cimmco has been manufacturing wagons since 1957, but slipped into trouble in 2000 when its Bharatpur plant in Rajasthan was locked-out due to labour unrest and eventually turned sick.
Titagarh Wagons acquired a majority stake in Cimmco in 2008 and turned it around.
