New Delhi, March 1 (IANS): The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Jindal Stainless (Hisar) Limited (JSHL) on Wednesday inked a licence deal for manufacturing High Nitrogen Steel for armour applications.

The agreement was signed in the presence of Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre and DRDO Chairman S. Christopher. 

Calling the development of the specific kind of metal, an outstanding achievement, Bhamre said: "I am glad that DMRL (Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory) has given a very important and strategic material -- high nitrogen steel."

"I also congratulate the Jindal Stainless Steel for initiating to partner with the DRDO in their concerted efforts to optimise lab technique versus industry scale production," he added.

The DMRL is the lead DRDO laboratory for researching complex metals and materials required for modern sophisticated warfare weapons systems.

Speaking on the occasion, JSHL Vice Chairman Abhyuday Jindal said: "We are extremely pleased with this development and we believe HNS will immensely benefit the Indian Defence sector, going forward." 

"The hard-work and perseverance of 10 years of JSHL with Ministry of Defence has culminated in a fantastic result for the country in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of Make in India."

"It paves way for development of specific application of HNS in the context of the Army's ongoing and futuristic modernisation programmes," he said.

Informing on the status of the industralisation of the manufacturing of the HNS steel, Jindal said: "Jindal Steel has already optimised manufacturing process at industry level. We are at 'take-off' stage for further development and commercialisation of technology to product-specific applications."

HNS has potential application in all armoured vehicles, including Infantry Combat Vehicles (ICV), Main Battle Tank (MBT), Future Ready Combat Vehicles (FRCV), and Aviation and Naval systems.