June 13, 2018
The critical facility, termed VIRO, was thrown open during the Vietnam-India Defence Industry Business Meeting held at Hanoi in the presence of senior government and defence officials from both India and Vietnam
BEL, a state-run aerospace and defence electronics company with about nine factories across the nation, has been fast expanding its global presence to boost exports worldwide, especially to Southeast Asian countries
VIRO will promote BEL’s exports in areas such as Weapon Systems, Radar Systems, Naval Systems, Military Communication Systems, Electronic Warfare Systems, Combat Management System and Coastal Surveillance System
The 2018 edition of the Indian Defence Expo in April had focussed on promoting the nation’s defence manufacturing capabilities; The participants promoted India’s manufacturing capacity for Army, Navy and Air Force
Indian Defence Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, on June 13 inaugurated the first representative office of Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) in Vietnam. The critical facility, termed VIRO, was thrown open during the Vietnam-India Defence Industry Business Meeting held at Hanoi in the presence of senior government and defence officials from both India and Vietnam. BEL, an Indian Government-owned aerospace and defence electronics company with about nine factories across the nation, has been fast expanding its global presence to boost exports worldwide, especially to Southeast Asian countries such as Myanmar, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines. Spotting a niche market in Vietnam, BEL has now set up a base in the country to address export opportunities and to provide product support and services.
VIRO will aim to promote BEL’s exports in areas such as Weapon Systems, Radar Systems, Naval Systems, Military Communication Systems, Electronic Warfare Systems, Combat Management System and Coastal Surveillance System. Set up 1954 to make basic communication equipment, BEL now produces a wide range of equipment in fields such as Defence Communication, Radars, Naval Systems, C4I Systems, Weapon Systems, Homeland Security, Telecom and Broadcast Systems, Electronic Warfare, Tank Electronics, Electro Optics, Professional Electronic Components and Solar Photovoltaic Systems, BEL also provides turnkey system solutions. Meanwhile, civilian products manufactured by BEL include Electronic Voting Machines, Tablet PC, solar-powered traffic signal systems and Access Control Systems.
Currently, the BEL’s products and services to foreign clients include Defence Communication equipment and spare parts, Radars and Sub-systems, Electronic Warfare products and services, Opto-electronics products, Semiconductor devices, Microwave Tubes and Transmitting Tubes, Solar Products and Systems, Vacuum Interrupters, Contract Manufacturing and Outsourcing Services, Electronic Voting Systems, Radio and TV Broadcasting products and Systems, Telecom and SATCOM systems. International clients on BEL’s roster include those from developed nations such as the USA, France, the UK, Netherlands, Canada, Switzerland, Germany, Russia and Sweden. BEL also caters to developing markets in Africa and South America such as Brazil, Indonesia, Malaysia, Egypt, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Turkey, Uganda and Kenya.
The 2018 edition of the Indian Defence Expo (DefExpo) held by the Ministry of Defence in April had focussed on promoting the nation’s defence manufacturing capabilities to the world. This was reflected in the tagline for the Expo – “India: The Emerging Defence Manufacturing Hub”. DefExpo 2018 saw product demonstrations by state-controlled Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) and Bharat Earth Movers Ltd (BEML), among others. Besides showcasing strengths of India’s substantial public sector, DefExpo displayed India’s growing private defence industry and expanding MSME base for components and subsystems. The participants promoted India’s manufacturing capacity for Army, Navy and Air Force.