Chennai, April 10 : French group Thales, which caters to both the defence and civil sectors, on Tuesday said it plans to increase its Indian revenue to 1 billion euros and double its exports to 600 million euros in the near future.
The French group has also signed two MoUs with MKU Ltd - one for development and production of optronic devices and the other for making F90 close quarter battle rifle for soldiers.
Interacting with reporters here, Thales India Vice President and Country Director Emmanuel De Roquefeuil said the French group generates a revenue of 300 million euros now and the target is to take that to 1 billion euros in the near future.
Thales caters to the Indian defence and civil sectors on its own and through its joint ventures in India and according to Roquefeuil, India is one of the three key markets where the group wants to grow its business.
Thales' strategy is not only "Make in India" but also export from India.
"We are developing local partnerships and co-developing products to address the Indian market as well as the export from India," he said.
About the two MoUs with MKU Ltd, Roquefeuil said the agreement for optronic devices is for enhancing the night fighting capabilities of the Indian Army and homeland security forces.
The agreement provides for manufacturing of weapon sights, night vision goggles, handheld thermal imagers and thermal infrared sensor engine for soldier systems and other image intensification and thermal imaging systems for soldiers and platforms respectively.
As per the second agreement - to make rifles, MKU could set-up an assembly unit for carbine version of the F90 assault rifle which is already in service with Australian Defence Forces.
The optronic devices will be co-developed by both the partners.
Both the optronic devices and F90 rifles will be manufactured in India at MKU's facilities in Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur.
According to him, Thales now plans to develop products in India whose intellectual property rights will be housed in the country.
Queried about Thales Indian joint ventures, Roquefeuil said the BEL Thales Systems Ltd is for civilian and select ground based military radars.
The joint development of PHAROS multi-tracking radar is to serve Indian and worldwide markets.
All set timelines have been met in the joint development of the fire control radar.
Roquefeuil also said that Thales will upgrade six Mirage 2000s of the Indian Air Force and the balance will be done by the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.
On the joint venture with Reliance Defence, he said that it would be ready by the end of 2018.
The French group also has joint vetures with Samtel (for military avionics, airborne sensor systems) and L (and) T Technology Services (for software including avionics).
--IANS
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Source: IANS
