BusinessU.S., Indian companies to form Indian homeland security joint venture

Raytheon and India's RIL in major joint security venture // Source: irib.ir

Defense giant Raytheon is currently in talks with India’s Reliance Industries (RIL) to form a joint venture designed to capitalize on India’s rapidly expanding homeland security market.

According to an unnamed source involved with the negotiation who spoke with the Economic Times, “RIL and Raytheon are in talks (to set up a joint venture in homeland security) that are in the last stage.”

India’s $8 billion homeland security market is expected to grow to $14 billion over the next three years and by 2016 analysts project it will hit $16 billion.

So far many foreign companies have failed to penetrate the Indian market and win large government contracts. Most recently no American companies made it to the shortlist for a major contract to acquire 126 combat aircraft for the Indian Air Force.

Indian analysts say a RIL and Raytheon joint venture would benefit both companies by offering Reliance access to Raytheon’s sophisticated engineering expertise, while Raytheon would gain greater access to India. Currently the company’s only presence in the country is through partnerships with other companies like Tata Group, Larsen & Toubro, and Bharat Electronics.

“This joint venture will give RIL the ability to innovate and develop key technologies for India,” said an Indian analyst, who spoke anonymously as he was not authorized to speak on the record.