Manohar Parrikar’s 2017 letter advised against making any change in the organisational structure of BrahMos Thiruvananthapuram unit

At this time when a reported move to delink the Thiruvananthapuram unit of BrahMos Aerospace from its parent organisation has sparked concern, a letter written by the then Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar in 2017 is once again grabbing attention.

Mr. Parrikar had written that the “capabilities and potential” of BrahMos Aerospace Thiruvananthapuram Ltd. (BATL) were being fully utilised in the defence and nuclear sectors under the guidance of the parent firm, the Indo-Russian missile JV BrahMos Aerospace Pvt. Ltd. (BAPL). This being the case, it was “not advisable to make any change in the organisational structure in BATL as it would adversely affect the performance of the company,” he had said.

In this letter dated February 6, 2017, to the then State president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Kummanam Rajasekharan, Mr. Parrikar further observed that BATL was going through the ‘improvement in performance’ phase and, at the time, had orders worth ₹330 crore in its kitty.

Future in spotlight

Mr. Parrikar’s letter also makes note of a point that gains relevance in the present context where BATL’s future is under the spotlight. In a recent letter to Shashi Tharoor, MP, the present Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had stated that the proposed “transfer” of BATL was in line with the provisions in the March 2007 order issued by the Kerala government handing over Kerala Hi-Tech Industries Ltd. (KELTEC) to the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for establishing BATL. What Mr. Singh’s letter failed to take note was the fact that the March 2007 order handing over KELTEC to the DRDO — which has partnered Russia’s NPO Mashinostroyenia in the JV for the BrahMos missile programme — was amended in October 2007 to the effect that KELTEC was handed over directly to BAPL.

Mr. Parrikar’s letter, however, does mention this. “Since DRDO was basically an R&D organisation not engaged in production activities, based on the discussion between the Government of India and the Government of Kerala, it was decided to hand over KELTEC directly to BrahMos Aerospace Pvt. Ltd. (BAPL), a joint venture of Government of India and Russia, considering the strategic importance of the programme,” it says.

Mr. Rajnath Singh’s September 19, 2025, letter had sought to allay concerns stating that DRDO will remain the majority stakeholder and BATL jobs would continue to follow the systems in place.