New Delhi : The Kingdom of Morocco’s Royal Armed Forces and Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) announced a strategic partnership for the final assembly and integration of the TASL Wheeled Armoured Platform 8×8 in Casablanca, Morocco. Tata Advanced Systems’ local unit will produce a significant number of the specialised vehicle systems for Morocco and potentially for other countries in Africa. This will be Morocco’s first large defence manufacturing plant, and the first defence manufacturing plant by an Indian defence OEM situated outside India. The TASL platform 8×8, which has been developed jointly by Tata Advanced Systems and Tata Motors with DRDO, is itself a successful example of Indian private sector and government partnership. This will generate production in India while also starting final assembly of a defence platform in Morocco.
The production facility is expected to be operational over the next 12 months to deliver the contracted quantity of units thereafter over time. Significant content of the TASL platform 8×8 will be exported from India, while also meeting a commitment for local employment, value addition and support in Morocco. The production facility in Casablanca covering 20,000 sq. m. has been identified. While the initial contracted quantity is entirely to meet the needs of Royal Moroccan Army, this facility will be a 100% subsidiary of Tata Advanced Systems and become an export hub to meet the requirements of other countries especially in Africa.
During the signing, Mr. Abdeltif Loudyi, Honourable Minister Delegate to the Head of Government in charge of the Administration National Defence, said,” This partnership with Tata Advanced Systems marks a new era in the development of our defence industry. It is a strategic step that will not only contribute to our national self-reliance but also our ability to scale up our defence industry quickly and reliably. We are committed to creating a robust industrial ecosystem that drives economic growth and delivers tangible benefits to our investors and industry partners similar to the successful model of the automobile industry.”
Mr. Sukaran Singh, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, TASL, said, “TASL is extremely proud to sign this partnership with the government of the Kingdom of Morocco. This contract is of significant size and of strategic importance for us. This not only enables TASL to help initiate Morocco’s defence ecosystem but also acts as a launch point for TASL into rest of Africa for select defence systems. We would like to acknowledge the progressive and industry friendly policies of the Kingdom of Morocco that made it viable for TASL to sign this landmark production and supply agreement.”
Tata Advanced Systems will work closely with the government of the Kingdom of Morocco to develop a robust ecosystem which would include engaging with the local supply chain partners and vendors, training and skill development of the workforce and building related capabilities, and to maintain the systems in-country. Further, the facility will adopt global standards in line with international best practices.
TASL platform 8×8 incorporates state-of-the-art critical technologies like a high power, integrated power pack with automatic transmission, with modularity and scalability which can be easily customised to cater to various missions and operating conditions of Morocco’s Royal Armed Forces.
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