Bharat Dynamics Ltd is on an expansion drive of its existing facilities, while setting up two new manufacturing units in Ibrahimpatnam in Telangana and Amaravathi in Maharashtra.

A Government of India enterprise under the Defence Ministry, headquartered in Hyderabad, BDL expects to invest about ₹1,600-1,700 crore in expansion and in setting up of new units.

V Udaya Bhaskar, Chairman and Managing Director of the country's strategic defence PSU, engaged in weapon systems, torpedoes etc, said: “We have expanded our facilities at three existing locations and will be investing in new facilities at Ibrahimpatnam and Amarvathi as we diversify the product range.”

The phase-I works of ₹500 crore was completed at two new locations. BDL’s existing facilities are located at Kanchenbagh in Hyderabad, Bhanur in Medak district in Telangana and Gajuwaka near Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. The Ibrahimpatnam unit will also have test facility.

Speaking here on the sidelines of a Vigilance event held here, the CMD said, “We have unique capabilities in defence sector in the areas of missile development. In tune with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of ‘Make in India’, we are keen to demonstrate our potential for India's requirements but also see potential to export.”

He told BusinessLine that, “In the recent times, we have received expression of interest to source missiles/torpedoes from abroad. BDL has bagged a $20-million order from Myanmar Navy for torpedoes. We are ramping up facilities which would enable us to export.”

The defence PSU achieved a turnover of ₹4,800 crore for the financial year ended March 31, 2017, and has programmed a turnover of over ₹5,400 crore during the current financial year.

“As we scale up and diversify our product range, including weapon systems, we would open up for more private sector participation. Over the years, sourcing has gone up from 30 per cent to 71 per cent,” Bhaskar said.

“Our teams are scouting for new opportunities to collaborate with global players such as Thales for products and strategic engagements.

“This is based on a significant shift in the policy for bringing in latest technologies from companies in the US, the UK and France,” he said.

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