JSW Group Enters Defence, Buys Stake in Gecko Motors

JSW Group, a leading corporate conglomerate, has announced its entry into the defence sector with the launch of a new business vertical, JSW Defence and Aerospace (JSW Defence). JSW Defence has acquired a majority stake in an extreme off-road vehicle company, Gecko Motors Private Limited, now renamed as JSW Gecko Motors Pvt Ltd (JSW Gecko) .

JSW Gecko has secured an order worth ₹250 crore from the Ministry of Defence (Army) to manufacture and supply 96 Specialist Mobility Vehicles (SMVs), branded as ATOR N1200 . This order is currently under manufacturing at JSW Gecko’s newly set-up manufacturing unit in Chandigarh, Punjab, and will be supplied to the Armed Forces by June 2024 .

ATOR N1200: An Amphibious Extreme Mobility Vehicle

The ATOR N1200 is an indigenised version of the SHERP N1200 amphibious extreme mobility vehicle, designed by UK-based Copato Ltd (Copato) . Copato has entered into a Joint Venture agreement with JSW Defence and JSW Gecko along with technology supply license agreement for the manufacture of Specialist Mobility Vehicles in India with a vision to make India the global production hub for this product .

The ATOR N1200 is designed to navigate all types of terrains in extreme weather conditions. It has proven its capability from the arid deserts of Rajasthan to the tortuous creeks and mudflats of Bhuj/Rann of Kutch to the rugged mountainous terrain in sub-zero temperatures . The ATOR shall provide significant advantages to the Indian Army in its operations .

JSW Group’s Vision for Defence Sector

Parth Jindal, Managing Director of JSW Cement and Paints and Director of JSW Defence, said that India has an extremely large defence budget of $73.8 billion, which is likely to grow to $200 billion by 2030. He said that JSW Group sees a big opportunity in the capital outlay segment of the defence budget and wants to bring world-class products and services to India .

He added that as part of its strategic focus, the Group is actively pursuing partnerships with global players and Indian start-ups to introduce the latest military technology across multiple defence equipment segments .

Jaskirat Singh Nagra, erstwhile promoter of Gecko Motors and now CEO of JSW Gecko, said that the company has been working to develop unique application specific vehicles for extreme terrains for the last eight years and is keen to have a strategic partner who could grow the business besides supporting the R&D efforts to design and develop new extreme mobility products for India. He said that JSW Gecko is very well positioned to leverage the immense potential the extreme mobility sector presents .