New Delhi: According to a Reuters report, a senior executive of India’s largest private-sector defence manufacturer by revenue, Larsen & Toubro Ltd (L&T) has said that the company is looking to increase its aerospace division. As per the report, the company is looking to cement its position strongly in India’s growing private space sector.
While the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has traditionally led the space industry in the country, the government has recently made efforts to open the sector to private firms. The success of the Aditya-L1 solar mission and the lunar landing of Chandrayaan-3 has created new opportunities for companies with advanced engineering power.
According to A.T. Ramchandani, senior vice-president and head of L&T’s Precision Engineering & Systems, who spoke to Reuters, the company sees an economy growing out there and while it is hard to predict how fast it will grow and where the contours will be, it can be surely said that L&T will leverage their relationship of 50 years with ISRO to manufacture launch vehicles.
The details of the expansion plans of the L&T are yet to be made public. However, with private firms becoming eligible to design, build, and operate launch services, such companies can benefit from the rising demand for commercial satellite launches.
L&T and the Indian space sector
For investment in the commercial space industry, the Indian government is encouraging private companies to come forward. It expects the worth of the sector to be $44 billion within the decade. Notably, for a long time, L&T has been building key components for Indian missiles and other aspects when it comes to space. At present, it is building the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) along with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. The PSLV is a mainstay of the satellite launch program of ISRO.
The privately built PSLV’s first launch is due in early 2025 and each rocket costs around Rs 2 billion, as per Ramchandani. India is planning to make its Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) program privatised to provide launch solutions which are cost-effective for smaller payloads of up to 500 kgs and this has drawn interest from many players including L&T. Ramchandani further added that the aim of SSLV is to enable 12 launches in a year. Beyond this, there is the potential to scale up to a launch every 15 days.
