Tata Power to sell defence biz to TASL for $342 mn

As part of plans to monetise its non-core assets to improve the balance sheet, Tata Power Co. Ltd has planned to sell its defence business to Tata Advanced Systems Ltd for 22.30 billion rupees ($342.21 million).

Tata Power’s defence unit, Strategic Engineering Division, manufactures and assembles missile launchers, and electronic warfare equipment, night vision devices, and gun systems.

The sale to the Tata Group’s aerospace and defence arm comes at a time when the salt-to-software conglomerate is mulling ways to cut cross-holdings in various group companies to consolidate the business.

Recently, Chairman N Chandrasekaran told an internal company magazine that many group companies needed to be streamlined, without losing their entrepreneurial spirit.