..:: India Strategic ::. Defence Industry: Tatra Trucks is back in action in India

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Editorial

Tatra Trucks is back in action in India
- Company signs MoU with BEML for continued supplies
- Czeck investors take company from Ravinder Rishi

Published: April 2015

Abu Dhabi. Czeck company Tatra Trucks is back in business in India, after the ban on it for alleged corruption was lifted by the Government a couple of months back.

Mr Jiri Kasparek, company’s marketing department Manager, told India Strategic defence magazine (www.indiastrategic.in) here recently that the company had signed an agreement with India’s BEML in February for continued supplies and production support after the Indian Ministry of Defence lifted the ban imposed on it following allegations of a bribery attempt made by the then Army Chief in 2012. The company is now owned by Czeck investors, who bought back about 40 percent of its shares from the London-based Indian, Mr Ravinder Rishi.

Rishi was a majority owner, and Vice Chairman. But he had also set up a subsidiary to do dealings with India’s state-run BEML for supplying the heavy trucks and spares. Three years back, the then Army Chief, Gen VK Singh, had alleged that a retired Lt General – working for Rishi – had offered him bribe to recommend about 800 trucks for the Army.

All the three Services, Army, Navy, Air Force as well as DRDO and BrahMos use Tatra’s heavy trucks for strategic supplies and missile programmes. As transport machines, the trucks are regarded as indispensable by the armed forces, who have bought some 7,000 units over several decades. The Services as well as DRDO and BrahMos had told the Government that Tatra vehicles were urgently needed to ensure the mobility of heavy systems and missiles like Akash, BrahMos and Agni variants.

Defence Minister Manohar Parikkar had also observed in February that the ban had to be lifted as many Indian defence programmes were stuck due to the unavailability of the (Tatra) trucks and their spares. He had also said that a company should be banned very carefully as many a time, the ban only hurt Indian interests.

Tatra, named after mountains on the Slovak-Poland border, is the third oldest automotive company in Europe after Daimler (Germany) and Peugeot (France). It produced the first car in central Europe in 1897, and its heavy multi-wheel trucks with independent suspension for sharp turns are known all over the world. The company exports 80 per cent of its production.

In its new post-Rishi avatar, the company displayed some of its trucks at the IDEX’15 defence exhibition for the first time here. Tatra trucks are in use in Saudi Arabia, and reportedly also in Israel which bought it through another country.

Tatra Trucks is now headed by Mr Petr Rusek, Chairman, and Mr Radek Strouhai, Vice Chairman, who constitute the governing board along with another member, Mr Jaroslav Strnad. There is also a supervisory board with three members, Mr René Matera, Mr Marek Galvas and Mr Jiri Krutilek.