New Delhi. India has a fairly large military inventory/asset. Asset acquisition is one thing but keeping them serviceable and combat ready is a bigger challenge, especially so in times when spares, components and technology supply lines have been affected due to various reasons. Indian defence forces have equipment and platforms from multiple sources hence it is becoming even more important to find indigenous solutions.
With Govt. of India’s thrust on ‘Make in India’ and ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ vis-a-vis current environment and ecosystem, great opportunities have arisen for MSMEs to build their capabilities to meet future challenges in the Defence MRO sector.
Talking about the importance of home-grown MRO capabilities for the Indian Defence Sector, Vice Adm Paras Nath (Retd) AVSM, VSM, Group President, Crown Group Defence said “As a nation with multiple security challenges and huge defence assets, indigenization and innovation is a paramount national and strategic necessity which can provide timely service to the Indian Defence forces and possibly at much lower costs. The current environment and threat perception necessitates that our industry gears up to the new activities.”
“Make in India is a critical national necessity in the defence sector which will pay a very rich dividend for the country in times to come. Sooner than later our friendly neighbors will look up to MSMEs for MRO in the defence sector making India a Defence MRO hub.” Said Cmde Rakesh Anand (Retd.), Head of Marine Division, Crown Group Defence.
Crown Group Defence with a legacy of more than four decades which has established itself as India’s leading defence MRO major, providing critical services to Indian Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard through its various Group companies is again at the forefront to meet the recent Defence MRO requirements.
“Over the years the Indian defence forces have made substantial investment in acquiring mission critical military assets both from Western and Eastern origin. It is imperative to have indigenous capabilities to maintain these equipment for truly being Atmanirbhar in Defence. Indigenous MRO activities further enhance the technical capabilities paving the way for R&D and manufacturing”, said Mr. Vikas Banga, Crown Group’s Chief Strategy Officer
“Leading the way in making India self-reliant in defence MRO & manufacturing, Crown Group Defence is establishing indigenous MRO & manufacturing facilities and forging technological tie-ups with international OEMs to provide critical services to Indian armed forces as their service & supply partner.” Mr. Banga, further added.
Crown Group’s core competency lies in its technical and professional team. Crown Group is one of the very few companies to have Ex-servicemen (ESM) from Army, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard right from the top level to mid & ground level bringing their years of valuable experience. “We strongly believe in harnessing the core competence of ex-servicemen. Our manpower is the best one can have.” Said Adm Paras Nath
“Moto of Crown Group Defence is to “Serve the Nation” by partnering with our defence forces to provide quality support. The Group has opened its MRO & manufacturing facilities to international companies to partner and leverage its facilities and capabilities for setting up MRO & manufacturing base in the country, keeping abreast with the ‘Make in India’ strategy, thereby leading to reduced timeframes for repair and enhanced operational availability of assets.” Said Cmde Rakesh Anand
“Keeping with the government’s focus on promoting self-reliance in defence manufacturing and positioning India as an exporter of military hardware, Crown Group’s focus is on indigenization through both ties up with international OEMs and in-house research and development.” Cmde Rakesh Anand further added.
With one of the largest facilities in Karwar, which is Asia’s biggest Defence Naval Base, to undertake mechanical and electro-mechanical repairs primarily for the Indian Navy, Crown Group has set up two facilities catering to Defence Aerospace MRO and Avionics repairs, including an NABL accredited calibration laboratory in Goa, an electronics facility in Mumbai where they are doing repairs of complex weapon equipment, electronic modules and manufacturing of PCBs, in addition to two ship repair workshops in Chennai and Vizag.
In a drive to support the indigenization of equipment for Indian Naval Ships and Submarines, Crown Group has tied up with WILO Pumps and Meru Pumps helping them customize their products to defence specifications.
Crown Group Defence in their commitment to promote Defence R&D has tied up with Amrita University for developing Indigenous Defence Technologies under Make in India programme and is in advance talks for collaboration with IITs & other reputed Universities for various Defence projects in the coming days.
Crown Group Defence, one of the most reliable players in the MRO sector supporting the “Atmanirbhar Bharat” initiative will showcase its indigenously developed technology innovations in manufacturing, maintenance, modernisation, repair and servicing for Army, Navy, Air Force, Land Force as well as homeland security systems at the 12th DefExpo from October 18-22 at Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
