Larsen & Toubro Ltd.

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and Russia's Rosoborn Export are in a race to supply the 100 self-propelled tracked howitzers to the Army in a deal expected estimated to the worth over Rs 2,000 crore. The guns being procured by the Army are part of its more than Rs 20,000-crore artillery modernisation programme. Under its artillery modernisation plan, the Army envisages induction of 2,814 guns of different types from both indigenous and foreign sources.

Meanwhile, the trails of the two companies’ guns are slated to begin in June-July time-frame this year. The gun being offered by L&T have been built and developed in collaboration with South Korean Samsung Techwin and is based on its 'K9 Thunder' self- propelled Howitzer.

Once the trial phase gets over by early next year following the winter evaluation of the guns, the Army will chose the lowest bidder and include the chosen guns in five regiments of its artillery units.