Tata Power Co Ltd's defence engineering unit, Tata Power SED, has signed an agreement with Honeywell International to produce the U.S. company's "TALIN" navigator in India, Honeywell said in a statement on Monday.

Honeywell will license the design and hardware to assemble, test and eventually build the production kits for the navigation system in India, in a boost for New Delhi's efforts to encourage local manufacturing of defence equipment.

The agreement, announced during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the United States, will mark the first time India has produced inertial land navigation technology, Honeywell said.

The world's largest arms importer, India is keen to modernise its armed forces by promoting domestic industry.

In a bid to kick start local production and encourage foreign manufacturers to share technology, the new government has approved a plan to raise the amount of foreign direct investment allowed in its defence industry to 49 per cent from 26 per cent.

Rahul Chaudhry, chief executive at Tata Power SED, said in the statement that the technology sharing arrangement "will offer the Indian Armed Forces a state-of-the-art inertial navigation technology, made in India and with local product support."

The Tactical Advanced Land Inertial Navigator, or "TALIN", enables precision navigation for vehicles and artillery movement, even where GPS satellite guidance is limited in far-flung and difficult terrains.

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