The Gautam Adani-group on Tuesday stepped up its presence in the defence segment by joining hands with Edge Group, one of the world’s leading advanced technology and defence group. Group arm Adani Defence & Aerospace signed the milestone agreement with the UAE company.

A press statement from the conglomerate said the agreement aims to establish a global platform leveraging the defence and aerospace capabilities of both companies to bring together their respective product portfolios and cater to the requirements of global and local customers.

The core products of Adani and Edge include missiles and weapons covering airborne, surface, infantry, ammunition, and air defence products.

It includes platforms & systems covering unmanned aerial systems (UAS), loitering munitions, counter drone systems, unmanned ground vehicles (UGV) as well as electronic warfare (EW) and cyber technologies.

The agreement will explore the possibilities of R&D facilities in India and the UAE.

It will also look into the setting up of development, production, and maintenance facilities of defence and aerospace solutions to not only serve the two captive markets, but also Southeast Asian and wider global markets.

“Our collaboration marks the beginning of a new era in enhancing defence capabilities, emphasizing our commitment to advance technological prowess and promoting bilateral defence co-operation between India and the UAE,” Adani Defence and Aerospace CEO Ashish Rajvanshi said.

It is a reflection of “our shared vision to fortify our nation’s capabilities” by not just delivering cutting-edge solutions for the two countries but also setting new benchmarks in the global defence landscape, he added.

“Our agreement with Adani Defence & Aerospace, represents a significant milestone, strengthening our ties within India’s defence industry, and underscoring our mutual commitment to advancing UAE-India military ties,” Edge group MD and CEO Hamad al Marar said.

Adani Defence & Aerospace is engaged in the design, development and manufacturing of state-of-the-art defence products. The development comes at a time the defence sector and its indigenisation is expected to be one of the focus areas for the Narendra Modi-government.

However, in a recent report CLSA flagged expensive valuation of some of these listed stocks while pointing that the order backlog is huge.