Jindal Stainless, DRDO sign deal on high nitrogen steel (Lead)

New Delhi March 1 (IANS) The DRDO and Jindal Stainless (Hisar) Ltd (JSHL) on Wednesday inked a licence deal for manufacturing High Nitrogen Steel which has potential application in armoured vehicles including infantry combat vehicles the Main Battle Tank the Future Ready Combat Vehicles (FRCV) as well as aviation and naval systems.

The agreement was signed in the presence of Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre and Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) Chairman S. Christopher.

Terming the development of the specific kind of metal an outstanding achievement Bhamre said: I am glad that DMRL (Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory) has given a very important and strategic material -- high nitrogen steel.

I also congratulate the Jindal Stainless Steel for initiating to partner with the DRDO in their concerted efforts to optimise lab technique versus industry scale production.

The DMRL is the lead DRDO laboratory for researching complex metals and materials required for modern sophisticated warfare weapons systems.

JSHL Vice Chairman Abhyuday Jindal said: We are extremely pleased with this development and we believe HNS will immensely benefit the Indian Defence sector going forward.

The hard work and perseverance of 10 years of JSHL with Ministry of Defence has culminated in a fantastic result for the country in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi s vision of Make in India.

It paves way for development of specific application of HNS in the context of the Army s ongoing and futuristic modernisation programmes he added.

About the status of industralisation of HNS steel manufacturing Jindal said: Jindal Steel has already optimised manufacturing process at industry level. We are at take-off stage for further development and commercialisation of technology to product-specific applications.

--IANS
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