India needs to give more business to domestic private companies in defence procurement currently dominated by state-owned companies and imports, according to the chief financial officer of one of the country’s largest engineering and construction companies.
Larsen & Toubro CFO R Shankar Raman said in an interview with the Financial Times that the company’s production abilities exceeded the procurement opportunities offered by the Indian government.
The conglomerate, which generates about 5 per cent of its $27bn annual revenue from defence, recently signed deals worth hundreds of millions of dollars to help construct ships for India’s navy and supply the air force with radar equipment. It also manufactures weapons delivery and air defence systems.