L&T bets on space exploration as India expands private rocket and satellite industry
The Hindu
L&T, India's largest private defense manufacturer, expands into aerospace industry to capitalize on growing global launch vehicle market.
The conglomerate Larsen & Toubro (L&T) said it is betting on aerospace as a potential growth engine, including launch vehicle and satellite manufacturing, as the country cuts reliance on imports and boosts private participation.
L&T, considered a bellwether for India's infrastructure spending because of how many industries its work touches, is the country's largest private-sector defense manufacturer by revenue; its Precision Engineering and Systems unit posted revenue of 46.10 billion rupees ($548.3 million) in the 2024 fiscal year, up 41% from the previous year.
At its factory in Coimbatore, in Tamil Nadu, L&T is assembling the country's first privately built Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), a mainstay of ISRO's launch programme, through a consortium with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. It is also building equipment for ISRO's other deep space exploration programs.
The company hopes to scale up its space business amid India's privatization push, which has eased foreign investment limits and allocated a larger share of procurement budgets away from State-run enterprises.
"We have decades of experience in high-tech manufacturing, critical systems, and scaling up production. The same expertise applies to aerospace," AT Ramchandani, senior vice president and head of L&T's Precision Engineering and Systems, told Reuters in an interview at the factory.
Walking through the facility, amid workers building heat shields and other rocket components, he said the global launch vehicle market was expected to hit about $160 billion over the next decade. The Indian government has set a target of reaching $44 billion for the country's commercial space sector in that time. India's space sector is valued at $13 billion, according to a February report by research firm DAM Capital.
L&T's plans intersect with India's strategy to position the country as a leading space power, with Prime Minister Modi's government pushing for the industry to become a force for further economic growth.
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