Polish defence major, WB Group, looking at production in India-Poland

WB Group President-CEO highlights long-term investment in India, emphasizing market potential and joint venture for production activities.

India is a big market and also a big industrial partner for our production, said Piotr Wojciechowski, President-CEO of Polish defence major WB Group outlining long-term investment and presence here as they completed an order from the Indian Army for their Warmate loitering munitions. The company has set up a joint venture in India and is planning investments both for the Indian market and also.

“We are seeing the Indian market from both sides. One as a big market, one of the biggest in the world. Second, we see it as a big industrial partner for our production,” Mr. Wojciechowski said in a conversation with The Hindu. We also want to use the Indian market for developing systems. Indian market can also be a big supplier for different equipment for our production, he said, adding this can include the production of composites, electronics and software.

The Polish major has already set up a joint venture in India, WB Electronics India Pvt. Ltd., with a majority stake with the Indian partner as per rules. The CEO said they want to use the JV to base their production activities. Finding good talent in Poland is a problem, he noted while observing that India has no shortage of resources, has educated people and is a big market.

“We have no obstacles in moving knowledge to India, in building and developing new products. With India, for India,” he stressed referring to India’s Make in India effort and expressing desire to have production here. “For us, in future this is going to be a big advantage.”

Set up in 1997, WB Group today has 20 companies employing 2.5 lakh employees with the parent company being WB electronics. While the company began with communication devices and electronics, its UAVs gained huge success in recent years especially since the war in Ukraine. As per data shown by the company, since 2021 there has been a huge spike in demand for the Warmate and the FlyEye. For instance, from about 2,000 Warmate systems delivered in 2021, it is over 5,000 now. Their systems are compatible with European and NATO standards building interoperability, the CEO noted.

Indian Army procured the Warmate loitering munitions under Emergency Procurement, and has a range of 30km through ground control. “We have received very good feedback from the Indian Army. They are using them in very demanding conditions, different from the conditions we have in Europe,” Mr. Wojciechowski said on the deliveries made. “The general conditions in India will be different, but with the experience of Warmate we can meet the requirements.”

He said they are looking to offer their communication systems including Software Defined Radios, and also the ‘FlyEye’ UAV to India, which he said was one of the best in the world having been tested in the real war and also been employed in large numbers. The range of the Warmate can go upto 100 km through aerial control via a FlyEye drone, company officials said.