The Hindu : National : Tata Motors plans armoured Safari for high net worth individuals

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Oct 14, 2007
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Tata Motors plans armoured Safari for high net worth individuals

— Photo: G. Krishnaswamy

Focus on safety: Union Minister of State for Defence Pallam Raju (right) and Ravi Kanth Managing Director, Tata Motors, at the Military World Games 2007 in Hyderabad on Saturday.

HYDERABAD: Tata Motors Limited has unveiled a range of armoured vehicles for specialised defence applications.

The company also announced plans for manufacturing land mine and bullet proof vehicles on the Tata Safari platform for high net worth individuals such as businessmen and political leaders. Tata Motors has put on display its armoured Safari with features like hand grenade protection for under belly through fine tuned suspension and heating ventilation air conditioning.

The vehicle can run on flat tyres and will have explosive suppressant material in the fuel tank, besides five exit doors. As part of the Military World Games, Tata Motors organised an exhibition to showcase vehicles such as armoured troop carrier for hilly roads, Safari and Sumo, tailor-made for defence applications.

Tata Motors managing director Ravi Kant said the armoured Safari would be equipped with NIJ (National Institute of Justice) Level III features, but yet appear “innocent.” The armoured bus, first of its kind indigenously developed, has features such as shatter proof glass and side bomb protection with firing ports.

The company was supplying about 7,000 vehicles to the armed forces annually, he said but declined to elaborate on the prices of the vehicles.

Union Minister of State for Defence M.M. Pallam Raju, who formally inaugurated the exhibition, exhorted private players to utilise the opportunities in vehicle and other supplies for defence purposes. The offset policy adopted by the government was expected to give scope for business worth $10 billion (over Rs. 40,000 crores) during the 11th Plan period.

Private firms needed to manufacture vehicles with features that would suit defence requirements.

Though the budgetary sanction for purchase of vehicles and other supplies was not large at the moment, it was expected to significantly increase in the coming years, he said.

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