The upcoming opening of a military vehicle manufacturing plant for the giant Tata in Casablanca marks India's entry into the emerging military industry market in Morocco and on the African continent.
Indian auto giant Tata will build a military vehicle manufacturing plant in Casablanca, becoming India's first overseas-based defense plant, TASS reports citing Indian newspaper The Economic Times.
The factory, which will produce 100 combat vehicles per year, will be launched within 12 months, specifies the Indian media. It will produce wheeled amphibious armored vehicles of the WhAP (Wheeled Armored Platform) type for the Moroccan army.
According to The Economic Timesthis decision marks India's entry into the growing military industry market on the African continent.
“This contract not only helps launch Morocco's defense ecosystem, but also serves as a launching point for Tata in the rest of Africa for selected defense systems,” said Sukarana Singha, CEO of the company.
Apart from being India's largest automobile manufacturer, giant Tata is also engaged in aerospace manufacturing, military development and defense technologies.
Armaments, a nascent industry
Revealed at the beginning of August by the Moroccan media The Desk and hailed in the process by the country's press, the upcoming opening in Morocco of this military vehicle manufacturing plant by the Indian giant Tata places India “in pole position” against “other foreign competitors who covet the future emerging military industry of the Kingdom”, analyzed the Moroccan newspapers.
This new factory is, in fact, part of a context where the Moroccan authorities have been preparing the ground for a while to give impetus to this industry. On June 1, the state press agency MAP, relayed by the country's media, announced the creation of two military industrial zones.
This decision taken by the ministerial council comes as the Moroccan authorities aim to attract significant investments from Israel, particularly interested in manufacturing its weapons in Morocco since the normalization of its relations with this Maghreb country in 2020.
With its Tata factory, India has already taken a “head start”, points out The Desk“while Israeli investments remain on hold”.
The press of the two countries regularly announces contracts for the purchase of Israeli weapons by Morocco and cooperation agreements in the military field.
Source: RT
