Despite Tumult, Tatra Trucks Fleet Growing in India

All the buzz about Tatra trucks getting back into business in India after a two-year lull happened due to the then Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, who in December 2014, soon after taking over, said he was open to reviewing all the cases of blacklisting by the previous UPA government, reports GEOPOLITICS Bureau.

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Not many may be aware that the Indian Army operates more than 10,000 Tatra heavy vehicles. The Indian Army is historically one of the largest users of Tatra vehicles in the world and perhaps the largest outside of Czech Republic. Between 2003 and 2012, Tatra had supplied nearly 4,000 complete knocked down kits to India and these CKD kits were used to build, along with different superstructure, based on the needs and requirements projected by the Indian armed forces.

The Tatra supplies to the Indian armed forces got into trouble in early 2012, after the then Indian Army chief General Vijay Kumar Singh spilled the beans on an alleged offer of bribe to him for clearing a tranche of nearly 450 trucks for the force. The problem happened due to the involvement of a London-based intermediary and a then stakeholder in Tatra, who died in early 2016. There were also issues relating to the high pricing of the Tatra trucks being offered by Indian defence public sector undertaking BEML, after it procured it through the intermediary company, whose promoter was also the stakeholder in Tatra.

After the blacklisting of Tatra, as a desperate measure, the Army completed trials for two types of trucks to replace the Tatra fleet – the six-wheeled-drive high-mobility vehicle and the eightwheeled-drive high-mobility vehicles. The minimum need was expected to be about 1,000 trucks. The Army also wants to induct more Field Artillery Tractors (FAT) Trucks which are used by Indian Army for towing 130mm and 155 mm medium guns, which also has cabins for 10 gun crews and can also be used to carry dead Tanks for repairs or transport on a trailer.