BANGALORE: In one of the largest defence offset contracts awarded to a mid-tier Indian firm Astra Microwave Products Ltd has bagged Rs 310 crore deal from one of its overseas customers.
The Hyderabad-based microwave and radar component maker will supply critical radar sub-systems to the vendor which is participating in one of India’s defence radar programme.
The order will significantly add to the Astra’s revenues. As per an industry source, the company was expected to touch revenues of Rs 200 crore this year.
“This is the first time, we have bagged such a huge contract. It will significantly increase our topline,” said Astra Microwave managing director B Malla Reddy.
He declined to name the overseas customer and give details of the Indian radar programme, as the company has signed a non-disclosure agreement.
As per the company website Astra Microwave counts European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company, Israel Aerospace Industries, Elettronica, Italy’s SIAE Microelettronica among its top foreign customers.
According to industry sources, Astra will be making sub-systems for active phased array multifunction radar (Apar) which provides the capabilities required for the air defence and modern anti-ship missile threats.
Apar is capable of performing various tasks simultaneously such as automatic detection and tracking of low altitude targets like seaskimmers (anti-ship missiles) and air targets. It also provides support and guidance of a very wide range of missiles.
“This order shows that foreign vendors have faith in our small and medium enterprises. Such contracts will boost the confidence of the ecosystem,” said Rajiv Chib, associate director, aerospace and defence practice at consulting firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers.
India’s defence authorities plan to spend Rs 75,000 crore over the next decade to procure new radar systems in a bid to modernise the armed forces with more sophisticated weapon systems, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Industry sources said global players such as Israel’s Elta Systems, European EADS,Sweden’s Saab and the US’ Raytheon and Northrop Grumman are among the companies exploring to bid for these contracts.
Besides Astra Microwave, other small and medium enterprises such as Alligator Designs, Mistral Solutions, CMC, Chaturvedi Tools, SM Creative, Data Patterns are also making key components for different Indian radar programmes.
India alone will spend $100 billion on defence modernisation programmes by 2022, according to consulting firm Frost & Sullivan, throwing opportunities for small and medium firms in the form of offsets.
An offset agreement is a stipulation made between a foreign supplier and a company, which requires the supplier to purchase a certain amount of goods from that country in exchange for a contract.
Including the new order Astra Microwave will now be executing orders worth approximately Rs 730 crore outsourced by its foreign and domestic customers — Defence Research and Development Organisation and Indian Space Research Organization.
The firm is backed by Strategic Ventures Fund, a private equity fund managed by Frontline Strategy Limited.