From correspondents in Delhi, India, 01:01 PM IST

Engineering and construction company Punj Lloyd Thursday said it will enter the defence equipment manufacturing business following a pact with the $1.3 billion Singapore Technologies Kinetics Ltd (ST Kinetics).

The agreement was signed after the government licensed Punj Lloyd to manufacture guns, rockets, missile artillery systems and related equipment, in addition to other defence equipment for India's defence forces.

ST Kinetics manufactures small arms and munitions for the Singaporean army, apart from other military products to US or NATO specifications for export. The company has subsidiaries in the US, Canada and China.

In a statement issued here, Punj Lloyd chairman Atul Punj said his company was confident of penetrating the defence sector, given its diverse expertise.

Earlier this week, it announced a 74 percent acquisition in Britain's Technodyne International Ltd, an engineering designing and consultancy firm, for an undisclosed amount.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)