Adani Enterprises' defence arm inks pact with EDGE group; stock rises

Shares of Adani Enterprises rose over 1% on Tuesday after its defence subsidiary, Adani Defence & Aerospace, signed a deal with UAE-based EDGE group for collaboration in defence and security space. As part of the agreement, both companies will explore setting up research and development facilities in India, the UAE, and other global markets, emphasising technological advancements in the defence sector, Adani Defence says in a release today.

Cheering the news, Adani Enterprises shares rose as much as 1.43% to ₹3,264.70, while the market capitalisation increased to ₹3.7 lakh crore. Early today, the Adani group flagship stock opened a tad higher at ₹3,225 against the previous closing price of ₹3,218.45 on the BSE.

Adani Defence & Aerospace, a part of Gautam Adani-led Adani group, in a release today says that it has signed a cooperation agreement with EDGE Group to collaborate across strategic defence and military domains, combining their expertise in missiles, weapons, unmanned platforms, and cyber systems.

Launched in November 2019, EDGE Group is one of the world’s leading advanced technology and defence groups. Headquartered in Abu Dhabi, capital of the UAE, the group consolidates more than 35 entities into five core clusters: Platforms & Systems, Missiles & Weapons, Space & Cyber Technologies, Trading & Mission Support, and Homeland Security.

“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 release notes.

Under the agreement, both the companies will evaluate cooperation across EDGE’s and Adani’s core product domains, including missiles & weapons covering airborne, surface, infantry, ammunition, and air defence products, 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.

Adani and EDGE will also explore the establishment of R&D facilities in India and the UAE; the setting up of development, production, and maintenance facilities of defence and aerospace solutions to not just serve the two captive markets, but also Southeast Asian and wider global markets, as per the release.

“Our collaboration marks the beginning of a new era in enhancing defence capabilities, emphasising our commitment to advance technological prowess and promoting bilateral defence cooperation between India and the UAE,” says Ashish Rajvanshi, CEO, Adani Defence.

Formed in 2017, Adani Defence is the flagship defence company of the Adani Group, with a focus on manufacturing defense drones, arms, and counter-drone systems. 

In February this year, Adani Defence launched two mega facilities to manufacture ammunition and missiles in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. Spread over 500 acres, the facility is going to be one of the largest integrated ammunition manufacturing complexes in South Asia. The Adani group company plans to invest over ₹3,000 crore in the facilities, which are claimed to create around 4,000 jobs, with five times the multiplier effect on MSMEs and the local ecosystem benefiting from it indirectly.

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