TIL Ltd., which has created a dedicated strategic business unit (SBU) for developing and scaling its defence‑grade products, will reassess the need for a dedicated greenfield capacity for the SBU going ahead as volumes grow.

For the Kolkata-headquartered company, products currently in the pipeline and advanced discussions stage are next‑gen missile launch platforms, electromechanical missile‐launch systems, and composite‑steel bridging solutions, among others.

The material handling solutions and infrastructure equipment maker currently has two defence manufacturing facilities: one in Kolkata and the other in Kharagpur. These plants currently produce defence equipment. It is gradually reallocating work to segregate outputs.

For TIL, which has been working in the defence sector since 1965–66, its primary clients are the Indian Army, Navy, and Air Force. With the board approval, the company in May this year formed the SBU, TIL Defence, to ensure clear governance and dedicated resources to consolidate its expanding defence portfolio and accelerate indigenous production of critical military systems.

“We felt operating defence and civilian products under one entity—while partnering with international OEMs for civilian products— could send conflicting signals,” TIL Chief Operating Officer & Chief Technology Officer Pinaki Niyogy told businessline when asked about the reason behind creating the dedicated strategic business unit.

Notably, after the sanctions post-1998 Pokhran tests, some US and Japanese collaborators stopped working with the company because it was involved in missile systems. “To avoid conflict, we had at one point exited launchers and focused only on handling systems. With Gainwell’s management takeover in January 2024 — and noting new defence entrants — our decades of experience warranted a dedicated, laser‑focused SBU,” said Niyogy, also the SBU Head for TIL Defence.

Gainwell Group, through its group entity- Indocrest Defence Solutions (IDSPL), last year acquired TIL, formerly Tractors India.

For the defence sector, TIL has been manufacturing cranes and bespoke material‑handling systems, amphibious vehicles, and specialised platforms for missile programmes like Akash, Nag, Trishul, BrahMos, and Pinaka.

In 2001, it produced India’s first mobile ICBM launch pad in the Kolkata factory, delivering five launchers to DRDO.

Currently, the defence SBU is planning to develop hydraulic and electromechanical systems for evolving Akash and other surface‑to‑air missile variants; light, medium, and heavy recovery variants for wheeled logistics vehicles; future platforms beyond hydraulics, designed for rapid deployment and precision control; and lightweight composite bridges.

“In the last financial year, a large portion of our total machine sales turnover came from contracts related to the Indian Armed Forces. That reflects defence applications across all machine sales. From next year onwards, with the new SBU structure, we will refine how we track and grow that share,” Niyogy said.

On what could be the share of the company’s turnover from the SBU in the next two to three years, he said, “It depends on civilian versus defence growth—our civilian segments (retail cranes, port equipment, aftermarket) are also scaling.”

The company posted around ₹343 crore revenue for FY25, registering a whopping 398 per cent year-on-year growth. The newly-created SBU will not immediately have its own factory as it will leverage the company’s two massive plants.

“We are not planning a new factory immediately. Instead, TIL Defence (the SBU) will leverage existing TIL Group resources: production remains in these plants, with cost‑ and resource‑sharing across Gainwell entities to optimise utilisation. As volumes grow, we will reassess the need for dedicated greenfield capacity,” Niyogy said, adding the unit may source certain components from nearby Gainwell Engineering’s West Bengal facility.

On Wednesday, TIL Ltd scrip ended the day at ₹380 apiece on BSE, up 2.10 per cent from the previous close.

Published on June 25, 2025