TATA Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) on Tuesday handed over the first lot of wheeled armoured combat-ready vehicles to the Indian Army.

The vehicles, also called infantry protected mobility vehicles (IPMVs), were handed over to Army Chief General M M Naravane at a ceremony in Pune, TASL said in the statement.

“With this milestone, TASL has become the first private sector company in India to produce and deliver wheeled armoured combat-ready vehicles for the Indian armed forces,” it mentioned. In addition to supply, TASL will also provide 24x7 support to maintain the vehicles at the deployment locations, it noted. Chief of Army Staff General M M Naravane on Tuesday inducted indigenously-developed specialist vehicles into the Army at a function organised at the Bombay Engineer Group (BEG) and Centre here.

A defence release said the Army Chief inducted the first set of indigenously-developed Quick Reaction Fighting Vehicle Medium (QRFV), Infantry Protected Mobility Vehicle (IPMV), Ultra Long Range Observation System developed by Tata Advanced System Limited (TASL) and Monocoque Hull Multi-Role Mine-Protected Armoured Vehicle developed by Bharat Forge.