Tembo and Belgium’s New Lachaussée Plan 100-Million-Round Ammunition Manufacturing Facility in India

India’s private-sector ammunition manufacturing capacity is set for another significant expansion, with Tembo Classic Engineering Private Limited and Belgian ammunition-production specialist New Lachaussée joining hands on a new manufacturing project capable of producing around 100 million rounds annually.

The agreement emerged from the India-Belgium defence-industry engagement held in New Delhi during Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever’s visit to India in September 2026. Defence companies from both countries concluded a series of industrial partnerships spanning ammunition, rockets, electro-optics, autonomous maritime systems, drones and counter-drone technologies.

Under the Tembo-New Lachaussée project, the Belgian company will provide a complete ammunition production line for two calibres, while also supplying tooling that will allow production of two additional calibres. The project is valued at approximately €50 million, with equipment deliveries and installation planned across 2028 and 2029.

Once operational, the manufacturing setup is expected to have capacity for approximately 100 million rounds per year, or around 10 crore rounds annually. New Lachaussée is also expected to provide spare parts, maintenance and modernisation support, creating the possibility of a longer-term industrial relationship extending beyond the initial installation of the production machinery.

New Lachaussée, based in Belgium’s Liège region, specialises in machinery and complete industrial systems used to manufacture ammunition, primers and other pyrotechnic components. The company has decades of experience supplying ammunition-production equipment internationally, giving the Indian project access not merely to imported machinery but also to established manufacturing know-how.

For Tembo, the partnership comes as the company steadily expands from its traditional engineering activities into defence manufacturing. Tembo Classic Engineering is a subsidiary of Tembo Global Industries Limited and was formerly known as Tembo Defence Products Private Limited.

In April 2026, Tembo informed the National Stock Exchange that its subsidiary had received a licence from the Ministry of Home Affairs for the manufacture of ammunition of various calibres. The company said at the time that the approval positioned it to begin commercial production of arms and ammunition according to its planned schedule.

Tembo had earlier also obtained approval connected with its planned small-arms manufacturing facility in Maharashtra, giving the group a broader foundation for entering India’s weapons and ammunition sector.

The New Lachaussée agreement therefore represents more than an isolated technology purchase. It provides Tembo with the industrial equipment and manufacturing capability needed to translate its regulatory approvals into large-scale ammunition production.

The project also fits into India’s wider effort to diversify ammunition production beyond traditional government factories and create multiple domestic supply sources. The Ministry of Defence has been steadily opening additional ammunition categories to Indian industry, with the objective of reducing imports, strengthening wartime stock availability and developing domestic manufacturing infrastructure for more advanced ammunition in the future.

With a planned output of about 100 million rounds annually, the Tembo-New Lachaussée facility could become a substantial addition to India’s expanding private-sector ammunition ecosystem once production infrastructure is commissioned. More importantly, the partnership adds specialised ammunition-manufacturing technology and production know-how to India’s domestic industrial base as the country continues pushing towards greater self-reliance in defence manufacturing.