‘L&T Defence’ is an ‘Independent Company’ (IC) within ‘Larsen & Toubro’, a multi-billion-dollar Indian multinational group, engaged in technology, engineering, construction, manufacturing and financial services.

‘L&T Defence IC’ is India’s leading private-sector company for the development and supply of defence equipment and systems and has over 30 years of experience in the field.

The company’s mission-statement is to strive to become the best organisation in design, engineering, manufacturing, assembly, system integration, testing, and through-life support, of custom-built, technology-intensive platforms and systems for the India’s defence & aerospace segments, creating significant value for the armed forces, stakeholders and society.

Its current product range, built largely through in-house Research & Development (R&D) while also incorporating the expertise of its joint venture partners, includes land-based weapon-launch systems, air-defence and artillery systems and upgrades, patrol vessels, warships, submarines, naval-weapon launch-systems with fire-control solutions, bridging systems, communication, avionics, C4I, and, missile systems.

The ‘L&T Defence IC’, in common with the NMF, recognises that with indisputable leadership comes a commensurate level of responsibility that extends beyond mere institution-specific interests.  Both organisations are acutely conscious of the centrality of the maritime domain to India’s future security and the wellbeing of its people.  They share the conviction that these, in turn, will be a function of India’s ability to build cutting-edge ‘maritime’ capacity and develop world-class ‘maritime’ capability.

With a view to providing an intellectual fillip to Indian defence-production, led particularly by the private sector but simultaneously incorporating a joint, collaborative and cooperative approach to the public sector, the L&T Defence IC, in line with the Pradhan Mantri Fellowship Scheme for undertaking academic research activities, has instituted an “L&T Fellowship” at the National Maritime Foundation.  The Fellowship, which was established in 2018, is the brainchild of Mr Jayant Damodar Patil, (Whole-time Director and Senior Executive Vice President for L&T’s Defence Business & L&T-NxT) and Mr S Ranganathan (Vice President, L&T Defence IC).  It is designed to identify and encourage high-quality researchers who possess that relatively-rare mix of geopolitical acumen, maritime and naval domain-expertise, and technological skill.

‘L&T Research Fellows’ focus upon identifying new opportunities and challenges in the maritime and security sectors through public-private partnerships.