BLUE LANTERN LEVEL 3: POST-SHIPMENT END-USE CHECK ON

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 000086

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR PM/DTCC - BLUE LANTERN COORDINATOR

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ETTC KOMC IN
SUBJECT: BLUE LANTERN LEVEL 3: POST-SHIPMENT END-USE CHECK ON
LICENSE 05-1005761

REF: STATE 123440


1. (SBU) Officers from Consulate General Chennai received written
confirmation from the GOI's Aeronautical Defense Establishment (ADE)
that the four (4) "Rate Integrating Gyros" are located at ADE's
facility at New Thippasandra, Bangalore. Officers were unable to
visit this location in person due to resource constraints.
(Bangalore is 500 km from Chennai.)


2. (SBU) Dr. G. Sivasankaran, who provided the written confirmation,
is Project Director for the Nishant Project Group, and said that he
is aware of the ITAR restrictions related to these items. He also
provided a copy of the receipt of these items, which shows that
delivery occurred on April 2, 2007. Dr. Sivasankaran also relayed
that the precise use of these items is for integration in a
Gimballed Platform, which is part of an experimental Electro Optic
payload for an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). Each Gimballed
platform, assembled by the Tata Power Company, contains two (2) Rate
Integrating Gyros. ADE received two (2)Gimballed Platforms from the
Tata Power Company.


3. (SBU) Officers have not seen where the gyros are located and
cannot provide a first-hand description of the facilities where they
are stored. Dr. Sivasankaran informed in writing that he is
familiar with the Tata Power Company, that they are a vendor of
"good repute," and that he believes they are aware of the security
procedures related to the handling of United States Munitions List
(USML) items, including the prohibition against unauthorized
re-transfer and re-export.

Bona Fides of Tata Power Company
--------------


4. (U) The Tata Power Company was founded as the Tata Hydro Electric
Power Supply Company in 1911, and in 1915 it commissioned the first
major hydroelectric project in India. Managing Director Prasad
Menon heads the company. Menon, a graduate of IIT, Kharagpur, was
appointed Managing Director in 2006, when he moved from Tata
Chemicals, where he held the same position. Menon spent 20 years
with Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) before joining Tata, where
he sits on the Board of Tata Industries, Inc. Tata Power Company is
part of the Tata family's large collection of enterprises, which
range from tea to automobiles.


5. (U) The Tata Power Company is India's largest private energy
utility company with an installed power generation capacity of
between 2,300 and 2,900 megawatts. Tata Power provides generation,
transmission and distribution to the Indian states of Maharashtra,
Jharkhand and Karnataka, as well as in the Capital District of
Delhi. The company is a major supplier of electricity to the Mumbai
metropolitan area, and its production capacity includes the Thermal
Power Station in Trombay, as well as hydro-electric facilities in
Bira, Bhivpuri and Khopoli. It operates a joint venture with the
state government of Delhi, North Delhi Power Limited, which supplies
power to over 800,000 consumers. The company's other major
customers include railways, the Mumbai port, the Bhaba Atomic
Research Centre, municipal corporation pumping stations, and clients
in the textile, refining and fertilizer industries. The company is
headquartered in Mumbai and is a member of the Tata Group of
companies.


6. (U) Tata Power has been involved with the production and supply
of defense systems to the Indian Ministry of Defense and the Indian
armed forces since the early 1970s through its Strategic Electronics
Division (SED). In 2006 the GOI awarded the SED strategic defense
licenses to produce defense systems in seven key areas:

--Electronic Warfare Systems.
--Network-Centric Warfare Enablers.
--Avionics, airborne assemblies and systems, including those for
UAVs and UVs for uses including defense and civilian space systems
and subsystems.
--Air, Naval, and ground-based defense weapons systems.
--Air, Naval, and ground-based command and control systems.
--Military grade products such as computers, work stations,
printers, consoles, and biometric systems.
--Weapon systems with "air and naval applications," such as rocket
launchers and other weapons delivery systems.


7. (U) This response was drafted by Consulate General Chennai and

NEW DELHI 00000086 002 OF 002


coordinated with Embassy New Delhi and Consulate General Mumbai.

ROEMER