Frost & Sullivan Confers 2009 India Customer Value Enhancement Award in Land Combat Systems Market on Mahindra Defence Systems

LONDON, November 25 - The 2009 Frost & Sullivan India Customer Value Enhancement Award in Land
Combat Systems Market is presented to Mahindra Defence Systems (MDS). The
company has been associated with the Indian Army for almost 60 years now and
is well positioned to capture a number of defence contracts in the coming
decade.

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MDS is the major private supplier to the Indian Armed Forces in the
armoured vehicles sector, successfully competing with established public
sector undertakings (PSUs). The company has also been approved by the
Ministry of Defence (MoD) as a sea mines supplier for the Navy and is also
manufacturing decoy launchers to be fitted onto Indian navy vessels.

"One of the key challenges that MDS has effectively addressed is breaking
the stranglehold of PSUs in obtaining defence contracts from the MoD," notes
Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Gautam Ganapathy. "The company has
successfully fought for and won defence contracts from the MoD as a privately
owned firm."

Another persistent challenge has been price sensitivity. However, MDS has
converted this into an opportunity for itself by providing defence
technologies at a premium price to the Indian army, thus winning several
defence deals with state-owned defence agencies.

Currently, there has been a significant increase in demand for armoured
vehicles. MDS has a wide and comprehensive product portfolio of armoured
vehicles, including military light utility vehicles, bullet proof vehicles,
up-armoured vehicles and mobile surveillance and rapid intervention vehicles.
The company has also introduced shell-proof armoured vehicles which the
Indian Army will require in large numbers over the next five years.

"By providing its customers with varied, high quality, cost-effective
options, MDS has been able to capture a substantial part of the market for
armoured vehicles," adds Ganapathy. "The company's extensive portfolio of
'mid-sized' armoured vehicles has considerably enhanced the value delivered
to customers."

Being a part of the conglomerate Mahindra & Mahindra, MDS is able to
deliver end-to-end solutions by forming strategic alliances with its own
sister concerns under the flagship of Mahindra & Mahindra. This has given MDS
an edge over its competitors in terms of efficient supply chain logistics; it
does not have to rely on other companies for its resources including
technology transfer, research and development or raw material supply.

Earlier, the vehicle armouring industry was considered part of the
unorganised sector. MDS has been instrumental in transforming the industry in
India into an organised one, offering quality products with full warranties
and guarantees for vehicle armouring.

"Through concerted efforts, MDS has established an effective vendor base
for ballistic material fabrication which was non-existent earlier and has
established a dedicated factory with focused systems exclusively for vehicle
armouring," concludes Ganapathy. "This has had a positive impact on the
Indian land combat systems market as a whole as it has made local suppliers
integral to the functioning of the industry."

The Frost & Sullivan Award for Customer Value Enhancement is presented
each year to the company that has demonstrated excellence in implementing
strategies that proactively create value for its customers with a focus on
improving the return on the investment that customers make in its services or
products. This award recognises the company's focus on enhancing the value
that its customers receive, beyond simply good customer service, leading to
improved customer retention and ultimately customer base expansion.

Frost & Sullivan Best Practices Awards recognise companies in a variety
of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and
superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation,
customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts
compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth
interviews, analysis, and extensive secondary research in order to identify
best practices in the industry.

About Mahindra Defence Systems

Mahindra Defence Systems is part of the $6.3 Billion worth Indian
multinational Mahindra & Mahindra. Mahindra Defence Systems was setup
specially to oversee the requirements of the armed forces. The company
provides total solutions for the entire range of light combat / armoured
vehicles and their derivatives for defence / security forces. It also
addresses specific segments of the Government's import
substitution/indigenization programmes like sea mines, decoys and torpedo
launchers. It has also incorporated state-of-the-art technology into its
products at a reasonable cost and has emerged as the largest private sector
company for the supply of uparmored bullet-proof vehicles and high mobility
vehicles.

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Contact:

Ciara Jamie Connolly, Senior Events & Promotions Executive/ EMEA, Best
Practices, Frost & Sullivan, ciara.connolly@frost.com, P: +44(0)207-915-7868,
F: +44(0)207-730-3343, www.frost.com

Ciara Jamie Connolly, Senior Events & Promotions Executive/ EMEA, Best Practices of Frost & Sullivan, +44(0)207-915-7868, Fax, +44(0)207-730-3343, ciara.connolly at frost.com