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Days of getting a defence contract because you know somebody are gone: Baba Kalyani, Bharat Forge
April 20, 2016 Posted by Anupama Airy
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By Anupama Airy
The most worrying operational void of field artillery guns to support the Indian Army in battle is finally being addressed. Domestic companies like Kalyani Group companies are all geared up to fill this gap and showcase a plethora of high-precision, cost competitive and most importantly indigenously developed artillery guns at the forthcoming event—the Def-Expo 2016 to be held in Goa from March 28th to 30th.
The Kalyani Group Is All Set To Showcase Four Artillery Gun Platforms at the DefExpo India 2016 : Bharat 52 – 155mm/52 Cal Towed Gun; Bharat 45 – 155mm/45 Cal Towed Gun; Garuda 105 – 105mm/37 Cal Truck Mounted Light Weight Gun and Bharat Ultra Light Howitzer – 155mm/39 Cal Ultra Light Gun made of Ti & Al. based alloys.
A week before the DefExpo India 2016, the ever passionate, Baba N Kalyani, Chairman, Kalyani Group Companies, in an exclusive and free-wheeling interview to DefenceAviationPost.com, spoke about his group’s strategy, plans and offerings for India’s defence sector. What is more significant is that Kalyani said he will showcase a host of indigenously developed light weight artillery guns and howitzers that offer price advantage of as much as 40-50% over similar offerings by global firms.
Excerpts:
Q: How and when did the idea to make Guns, an altogether different segment from your core business, come to your mind?
A: The idea to make indigenous guns stuck me in late 2011. Within months and by February 2012, I discussed the idea with a group of just three young and dynamic engineers (who I decided to pull out of their traditional roles) to make high-tech indigenous guns. Interestingly, none of these three engineers had ever seen a gun in their life before and I sat down with them and drew some sketches of guns.
And four years down the line, we currently have a group of 45 dedicated and highly skilled engineers who are involved in making high precision indigenous artillery guns. In 2015, during the “Make in India” week in Mumbai, Kalyani Group proudly displayed Bharat-52, a long range artillery gun that was developed indigenously by us.
In between 2011 and this four and a half year period, a lot research and networking happened with various institutions, universities, organisations and people in order to gain knowledge and technical expertise in gun technology across a range of applications from small arms through to large calibre artillery systems.
We took help of a leading University in UK which has a School Of Artillery that teaches how to design Artillery guns and combines world recognised expertise in gun technology across a range of applications from small arms through to large calibre artillery systems.
Like that we grew and understood what was required, the design bit, what software to use and we started putting building blocks together. The engineering expertise of our group became our advantage…..as we have a whole set of experts in metallurgy, materials, stress & fatigue analysis, designing products, computer based simulation, etc. We also have considerable expertise in Hydraulics, Automation & Controls and Robotics. And this is exactly what an Artillery Gun is really all about—its Metal, Hydraulics, Automated Systems and some Electronics, all integrated together…we use these building blocks and designed a gun. Initially it was very difficult. I remember 2012, we were really frustrated as we used to do a lot of experiments, which at times didn’t work and produce the right results.
Just being at it, we overcame all these hurdles and by 2014, we had the first gun ready within 24months. We had not fired the gun…the gun was ready, we had moved it, did all the mobility trials but we had not fired it. Firing took place quite late, this year in the last two months…after which we knew our technology was right and on spot. So our first gun that made by us, right from the steel to the forging, to machining, to heat treatment to finish machining. All this needs lot of precision and metallurgy and I can proudly say that on these two fronts, we are among the world’s best.
Q: During the recent ‘Make in India’ week in Mumbai, you displayed your long range artillery gun, Bharat-52. So what are you showcasing at the DefExpo 2016?
A: We are showcasing Four Gun platforms at the DefExpo 2016 in Goa.
This includes the first gun Bharat-52 that we have built and had also showcased at the Make in India week in Mumbai.
Then we have built a 45 calibre gun that we will be showcasing (and the reason for this is that the Army is already buying Dhanush which is also a 45 calibre). We call it the Bharat-45.
Then we have designed, developed and manufactured a 105mm/37 calibre light weight gun, GARUDA-105 which comes with a Hybrid Recoil System and weighs less than a ton. This gun is designed to be mounted on a pick-up truck and transported by a Helicopter.
Fourth, which is our latest baby, is the Bharat Ultra-Light Howitzer we are exhibiting thefirst prototype system that has been developed leveraging our experience in manufacturing Aerospace components comprising light weight exotic materials like Titanium and Aluminium based alloys. We will have a system ready for testing before the end of this year.
We have thus developed four platforms in less than three and a half years.
Q: What about the cost advantage that this indigenisation of products and equipments will bring for the country’s defence sector?
A: India offers a tremendous cost advantage. I have said it publically that given the opportunity, we can manufacture and supply the Ultra-Light Howitzers (ULHs) at significantly lower than international prices.. . I am confident that this cost effectiveness and technology will help India emerge as a large manufacturer of Defence Equipments. We may not be able to make fighter planes or sophisticated electronics, but when it comes to Small Arms and Artillery, we should soon be the best in the world.
(Mr Kalyani will be happy to know when this price advantage was shared during an Exclusive Interview with the RM, Mr Parrikar assured that he will speak to KALYANI GROUP to understand the product and technology and assured that all indigenous manufacturers who offer such price advantage and have competitive products to offer will be spoken to by him.)
Q: What about your production capabilities?
A: We have a dedicated production line for Artillery Systems today and we can quickly equip ourselves to build almost 100 guns a year, if the government wants. And 100% of the gun is indigenous and is being built in our plant. The only thing that we don’t make is the fire control systems, which is the electronics (the charge, the explosive, the propellers…we don’t do that). Once the entry of private sector is allowed in these currently barred sectors, we will happily set up plants to do that too.
Q: What are your company’s plans on the exports front and the road ahead?
A: If you look at the next 15 years, we should see our defence expenditure (spread over Army, Navy and Airforce) going to anywhere around $25 billion a year from the present around $8 billion a year.
So if India can excel in terms of product, in terms of quality, the performance and give the required cost advantage, there is no stopping for us. India can excel in sectors where it has a manufacturing advantage (guns, artillery, ammunition or anything metal oriented components), we will always have an advantage. Take the instance of auto components where we have an inherent advantage of 20-30% on cost side. Once we gain that advantage, there will also be a tremendous opportunity for exports.
Talking of my company’s aim, I can say that in 10 years, we will be among the top three artillery manufacturers on this planet. We are creating facilities that are better than the best in the world. Not just this, we are creating the knowledge that is required for this. The only missing link is that we don’t have any facilities to test our products as that is all with our government. It takes more than a year at times to test a product. And I hope that Hon’ble Raksha Mantri, Shri Parrikar, would have solved this in the new DPP.
Q: While you are ready with these next-gen guns, the industry doesn’t have any control on the ammunition side. Does this affect your plans and sales?
A : We have been making empty ammunition for years and we have a whole line in our plant for this. But private sector is not allowed to fill explosives nor is the government beginning to open it up to the private sector. I have said this before that during the Kargil war, Army was running out of shells for the Bofors guns. So the Ministry of Defence came to me and said, start manufacturing from tomorrow. So I made special arrangements and made 100,000 shells and gave it to the government.
Q: With the fine print on the new DPP Policy around the corner, what are those few things that you are looking at in the policy for the defence industry?
A: I want the policy to have preference for indigenously developed products (which the initial reports suggest the policy has a special focus on), preference for high level of indigenous content. Because when I can make a product with 100% indigenous content, I don’t want to compete with a guy who is making products with say a 40% indigenous content just like in some cars, where they are putting the battery, tyres and lights in India while the rest of it comes from Europe or elsewhere. Because if this is how we decide that a product is indigenous, then you are not securing the technology – the ‘Know-How’ and ‘Know-Why” of things; India will remain behind!
Secondly, I want the decision making process to be far shorter than the present processes and procedures.
Third, I expect more transparency in the system and the most important to all is allowing private sector to have the ability to test their new innovative ideas. Because we don’t have firing ranges, we don’t have ammunitions—that is only with the government. So we need access to these if India wants innovation in research and development (R&D) and want private sector to make new products. But if we don’t get a chance to test our product, how will we innovate. Even when we built the 105 light weight gun, it kept lying with us for one year and we could’nt test it as we did not get permissions to test. We then had to send a second system to USA which was integrated with Ordnance from USA, mounted on a local pick-up truck and then fired & tested. The test results are extremely encouraging.
(We at DefenceAviationPost.com are happy to inform Mr Kalyani (and even before the fine print of the DPP is made public by the MoD), that in an Exclusive interview of the Defence Minister, Manohar Parrikar with DefenceAviationPost.com, two days after we interviewed Mr Kalyani, the minister made it clear that the new DPP policy has addressed this constraint and the industry will be able to test its products and equipments within India by accessing these facilities through a procedure that will be spelt out in the policy).
Q: What is the requirement of Guns by the Army and also elaborate on the preference that you are seeking for indigenous products?
A: As per the information available in various reports and on official websites, our assessment is that the Army requires some 4000 guns in the next 15 years or so. Now if I have developed a product, test it and if it is as good as what you have or better, then buy it if I am competitive. Don’t buy it if I am not good or if I am not competitive but, all I am asking is that give me the first chance. This is what I mean when I talk of preference for Indian Designed Developed and Manufactured Product.
Q: How do you react to the sudden inflow of investment proposals in Defence from the private sector?
A: I think we are going the right way. It’s commendable on part of the government to have passed on the message that this sector is open for business. The rush that you mentioned from the private sector only shows that the government has been very successful in passing this message both in India and outside the country and that is why you see large number of MoUs happening and a large number of industrial licenses being given to the industry.
I think DIPP and MoD have been very good in clearing the procedural bottlenecks, especially when it comes to length of license validation going upto 15 years. Earlier, it was just one year and every year you had to go for renewal which itself used to take one year. And one was not sure if the renewal will come or not. But now I don’t have to worry about that and my work would continue undeterred.
The government is very proactive, the Defence Minister, Mr Manohar Parrikar has been quite realistic and overall I am quite happy with the steps that the government is taking in the sector. I am very confident that the new DPP, which the entire industry is waiting to see, will only go to prove that the government is seriously pushing the Make in India initiative that will push manufacturing activity in the country and contribute to the overall growth of India’s economy.
http://defenceaviationpost.com/2016...e-interview-mr-baba-kalyani-cmd-bharat-forge/
April 20, 2016 Posted by Anupama Airy
FacebookTwitter
By Anupama Airy
The most worrying operational void of field artillery guns to support the Indian Army in battle is finally being addressed. Domestic companies like Kalyani Group companies are all geared up to fill this gap and showcase a plethora of high-precision, cost competitive and most importantly indigenously developed artillery guns at the forthcoming event—the Def-Expo 2016 to be held in Goa from March 28th to 30th.
The Kalyani Group Is All Set To Showcase Four Artillery Gun Platforms at the DefExpo India 2016 : Bharat 52 – 155mm/52 Cal Towed Gun; Bharat 45 – 155mm/45 Cal Towed Gun; Garuda 105 – 105mm/37 Cal Truck Mounted Light Weight Gun and Bharat Ultra Light Howitzer – 155mm/39 Cal Ultra Light Gun made of Ti & Al. based alloys.
A week before the DefExpo India 2016, the ever passionate, Baba N Kalyani, Chairman, Kalyani Group Companies, in an exclusive and free-wheeling interview to DefenceAviationPost.com, spoke about his group’s strategy, plans and offerings for India’s defence sector. What is more significant is that Kalyani said he will showcase a host of indigenously developed light weight artillery guns and howitzers that offer price advantage of as much as 40-50% over similar offerings by global firms.
Excerpts:
Q: How and when did the idea to make Guns, an altogether different segment from your core business, come to your mind?
A: The idea to make indigenous guns stuck me in late 2011. Within months and by February 2012, I discussed the idea with a group of just three young and dynamic engineers (who I decided to pull out of their traditional roles) to make high-tech indigenous guns. Interestingly, none of these three engineers had ever seen a gun in their life before and I sat down with them and drew some sketches of guns.
And four years down the line, we currently have a group of 45 dedicated and highly skilled engineers who are involved in making high precision indigenous artillery guns. In 2015, during the “Make in India” week in Mumbai, Kalyani Group proudly displayed Bharat-52, a long range artillery gun that was developed indigenously by us.
In between 2011 and this four and a half year period, a lot research and networking happened with various institutions, universities, organisations and people in order to gain knowledge and technical expertise in gun technology across a range of applications from small arms through to large calibre artillery systems.
We took help of a leading University in UK which has a School Of Artillery that teaches how to design Artillery guns and combines world recognised expertise in gun technology across a range of applications from small arms through to large calibre artillery systems.
Like that we grew and understood what was required, the design bit, what software to use and we started putting building blocks together. The engineering expertise of our group became our advantage…..as we have a whole set of experts in metallurgy, materials, stress & fatigue analysis, designing products, computer based simulation, etc. We also have considerable expertise in Hydraulics, Automation & Controls and Robotics. And this is exactly what an Artillery Gun is really all about—its Metal, Hydraulics, Automated Systems and some Electronics, all integrated together…we use these building blocks and designed a gun. Initially it was very difficult. I remember 2012, we were really frustrated as we used to do a lot of experiments, which at times didn’t work and produce the right results.
Just being at it, we overcame all these hurdles and by 2014, we had the first gun ready within 24months. We had not fired the gun…the gun was ready, we had moved it, did all the mobility trials but we had not fired it. Firing took place quite late, this year in the last two months…after which we knew our technology was right and on spot. So our first gun that made by us, right from the steel to the forging, to machining, to heat treatment to finish machining. All this needs lot of precision and metallurgy and I can proudly say that on these two fronts, we are among the world’s best.
Q: During the recent ‘Make in India’ week in Mumbai, you displayed your long range artillery gun, Bharat-52. So what are you showcasing at the DefExpo 2016?
A: We are showcasing Four Gun platforms at the DefExpo 2016 in Goa.
This includes the first gun Bharat-52 that we have built and had also showcased at the Make in India week in Mumbai.
Then we have built a 45 calibre gun that we will be showcasing (and the reason for this is that the Army is already buying Dhanush which is also a 45 calibre). We call it the Bharat-45.
Then we have designed, developed and manufactured a 105mm/37 calibre light weight gun, GARUDA-105 which comes with a Hybrid Recoil System and weighs less than a ton. This gun is designed to be mounted on a pick-up truck and transported by a Helicopter.
Fourth, which is our latest baby, is the Bharat Ultra-Light Howitzer we are exhibiting thefirst prototype system that has been developed leveraging our experience in manufacturing Aerospace components comprising light weight exotic materials like Titanium and Aluminium based alloys. We will have a system ready for testing before the end of this year.
We have thus developed four platforms in less than three and a half years.
Q: What about the cost advantage that this indigenisation of products and equipments will bring for the country’s defence sector?
A: India offers a tremendous cost advantage. I have said it publically that given the opportunity, we can manufacture and supply the Ultra-Light Howitzers (ULHs) at significantly lower than international prices.. . I am confident that this cost effectiveness and technology will help India emerge as a large manufacturer of Defence Equipments. We may not be able to make fighter planes or sophisticated electronics, but when it comes to Small Arms and Artillery, we should soon be the best in the world.
(Mr Kalyani will be happy to know when this price advantage was shared during an Exclusive Interview with the RM, Mr Parrikar assured that he will speak to KALYANI GROUP to understand the product and technology and assured that all indigenous manufacturers who offer such price advantage and have competitive products to offer will be spoken to by him.)
Q: What about your production capabilities?
A: We have a dedicated production line for Artillery Systems today and we can quickly equip ourselves to build almost 100 guns a year, if the government wants. And 100% of the gun is indigenous and is being built in our plant. The only thing that we don’t make is the fire control systems, which is the electronics (the charge, the explosive, the propellers…we don’t do that). Once the entry of private sector is allowed in these currently barred sectors, we will happily set up plants to do that too.
Q: What are your company’s plans on the exports front and the road ahead?
A: If you look at the next 15 years, we should see our defence expenditure (spread over Army, Navy and Airforce) going to anywhere around $25 billion a year from the present around $8 billion a year.
So if India can excel in terms of product, in terms of quality, the performance and give the required cost advantage, there is no stopping for us. India can excel in sectors where it has a manufacturing advantage (guns, artillery, ammunition or anything metal oriented components), we will always have an advantage. Take the instance of auto components where we have an inherent advantage of 20-30% on cost side. Once we gain that advantage, there will also be a tremendous opportunity for exports.
Talking of my company’s aim, I can say that in 10 years, we will be among the top three artillery manufacturers on this planet. We are creating facilities that are better than the best in the world. Not just this, we are creating the knowledge that is required for this. The only missing link is that we don’t have any facilities to test our products as that is all with our government. It takes more than a year at times to test a product. And I hope that Hon’ble Raksha Mantri, Shri Parrikar, would have solved this in the new DPP.
Q: While you are ready with these next-gen guns, the industry doesn’t have any control on the ammunition side. Does this affect your plans and sales?
A : We have been making empty ammunition for years and we have a whole line in our plant for this. But private sector is not allowed to fill explosives nor is the government beginning to open it up to the private sector. I have said this before that during the Kargil war, Army was running out of shells for the Bofors guns. So the Ministry of Defence came to me and said, start manufacturing from tomorrow. So I made special arrangements and made 100,000 shells and gave it to the government.
Q: With the fine print on the new DPP Policy around the corner, what are those few things that you are looking at in the policy for the defence industry?
A: I want the policy to have preference for indigenously developed products (which the initial reports suggest the policy has a special focus on), preference for high level of indigenous content. Because when I can make a product with 100% indigenous content, I don’t want to compete with a guy who is making products with say a 40% indigenous content just like in some cars, where they are putting the battery, tyres and lights in India while the rest of it comes from Europe or elsewhere. Because if this is how we decide that a product is indigenous, then you are not securing the technology – the ‘Know-How’ and ‘Know-Why” of things; India will remain behind!
Secondly, I want the decision making process to be far shorter than the present processes and procedures.
Third, I expect more transparency in the system and the most important to all is allowing private sector to have the ability to test their new innovative ideas. Because we don’t have firing ranges, we don’t have ammunitions—that is only with the government. So we need access to these if India wants innovation in research and development (R&D) and want private sector to make new products. But if we don’t get a chance to test our product, how will we innovate. Even when we built the 105 light weight gun, it kept lying with us for one year and we could’nt test it as we did not get permissions to test. We then had to send a second system to USA which was integrated with Ordnance from USA, mounted on a local pick-up truck and then fired & tested. The test results are extremely encouraging.
(We at DefenceAviationPost.com are happy to inform Mr Kalyani (and even before the fine print of the DPP is made public by the MoD), that in an Exclusive interview of the Defence Minister, Manohar Parrikar with DefenceAviationPost.com, two days after we interviewed Mr Kalyani, the minister made it clear that the new DPP policy has addressed this constraint and the industry will be able to test its products and equipments within India by accessing these facilities through a procedure that will be spelt out in the policy).
Q: What is the requirement of Guns by the Army and also elaborate on the preference that you are seeking for indigenous products?
A: As per the information available in various reports and on official websites, our assessment is that the Army requires some 4000 guns in the next 15 years or so. Now if I have developed a product, test it and if it is as good as what you have or better, then buy it if I am competitive. Don’t buy it if I am not good or if I am not competitive but, all I am asking is that give me the first chance. This is what I mean when I talk of preference for Indian Designed Developed and Manufactured Product.
Q: How do you react to the sudden inflow of investment proposals in Defence from the private sector?
A: I think we are going the right way. It’s commendable on part of the government to have passed on the message that this sector is open for business. The rush that you mentioned from the private sector only shows that the government has been very successful in passing this message both in India and outside the country and that is why you see large number of MoUs happening and a large number of industrial licenses being given to the industry.
I think DIPP and MoD have been very good in clearing the procedural bottlenecks, especially when it comes to length of license validation going upto 15 years. Earlier, it was just one year and every year you had to go for renewal which itself used to take one year. And one was not sure if the renewal will come or not. But now I don’t have to worry about that and my work would continue undeterred.
The government is very proactive, the Defence Minister, Mr Manohar Parrikar has been quite realistic and overall I am quite happy with the steps that the government is taking in the sector. I am very confident that the new DPP, which the entire industry is waiting to see, will only go to prove that the government is seriously pushing the Make in India initiative that will push manufacturing activity in the country and contribute to the overall growth of India’s economy.
http://defenceaviationpost.com/2016...e-interview-mr-baba-kalyani-cmd-bharat-forge/
