For the first time in the history of the Indian Army, a third-party firm will make rucksacks for its jawans.
The private outdoor gear firm Wildcraft India has bagged an order from the Ministry of Defence to design, develop and deliver 1.8 lakh units of 90-litre rucksacks equipped to carry supplies for 30 days.
“Our R&D has been accredited by the Ministry of Defence. All trials and final sampling of the product are over and the Ministry has given the go-ahead for production of rucksacks,” said Gaurav Dublish, co-founder of Wildcraft.
Production of the gadget that comes with high technical specifications will begin soon and delivery will be completed in 12 months.
Siddharth Sood, also co-founder of Wildcraft India, said this work order came through a commercial tender and the company would design the rucksack as per the specifications given by the Army and the product will be proprietary to the Indian Army. Wildcraft is expecting more such orders from the Ministry on behalf of the Army, which has more than 1.4 million jawans.
This is a ‘heavily-engineered’ accessory meant for jawans, who are exposed to extreme environments and climatic conditions. These high torso bags will be made out of high grade nylon and will have high resistance to abrasion. They come with a lightweight alloy back frame so that they comfortably stay on the back of soldiers even after they are mounted with armament.
The Indian Ordnance Factories, an industrial organisation under the Department of Defence, currently makes such bags for the Army.
₹1,000-cr in revenue
Wildcraft, which specialises in outdoor gear, clothing and footwear, said that in a couple of years, it would be a ₹1,000-crore revenue firm, up from ₹630 crore currently.
It had raised $11 million from Sequoia Capital for a 20% stake in 2013. Myntra and its parent firm Flipkart have also taken minority stake in Wildcraft for an undisclosed sum.
