Tata Sons Chairman visits Solar Group’s facility in Bazargaon

 

 

The city, on Tuesday, witnessed a rare meeting of two captains of industry - one heading India’s most revered conglomerates while other leading Central India’s biggest business house. The strategic meeting of Chairman of Tata Sons Natarajan Chandrasekaran with Founder and Chairman of Solar Group Satyanarayan Nuwal and Managing Director of the company Manish Nuwal at Bazargaon paved the way for a possible collaboration that could redefine the landscape of India’s defense manufacturing industry, especially in the region. Chandrasekaran paid a visit to the manufacturing facility of the group-owned Solar Defence & Aerospace Ltd (SDAL), which specialises in manufacturing sophisticated arms and ammunition.

 

Although officials of both sides refused to share much details of the visit, sources close to the matter revealed that the meeting was crucial, given Solar Group’s dominance in defence manufacturing and Tata Group’s growing interest in the sector. Solar Group has taken a giant leap as a private sector entity in the defence sector under the leadership of Satyanarayan Nuwal. On the other hand, Chandrasekaran carries with him the trust and legacy of the Tata Group. Interestingly, during his visit, Chandrasekaran reviewed the group’s manufacturing set up of ammunition, missiles, and other defence products. Expressing his views on the occasion, Chandrasekaran said, “Defence is a very important sector that needs multiple players. No one else can solve our country’s defence needs so we all have to contribute. Wherever there is a need for collaboration, we will collaborate.”

 

However, he also said that there is nothing specific about the visit. “The whole idea behind the visit was to see the facility and learn what Solar Group is doing,” he said. Chandrasekaran further added that there is a lot of need in the defence sector. While lauding the role of Solar Group in making India self-reliant in ammunition and defence systems, Chandrasekaran remarked that the sector is very crucial in the current scenario. He was of the view that no single player can handle the huge requirements, and a collaborative approach would be beneficial to make the country self-reliant. The group, set up a subsidiary in the name of Economic Explosives Ltd (EEL) in 2010, started manufacturing for the defence and aerospace sector. Spread over 2,000 acres, it is the largest and most modern development and manufacturing facilities for ammunition and defence systems in the private sector.