VZCZCXRO2425
RR RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHNEH
DE RUEHNE #0086/01 0200145
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 200145Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9172
INFO RUEHCG/AMCONSUL CHENNAI 5489
RUEHBI/AMCONSUL MUMBAI 4509
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL KOLKATA 4705
RUEHNEH/AMCONSUL HYDERABAD 1273
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RHMCSUU/FBI WASHINGTON DC
RUETIAA/DIRNSA FT GEORGE G MEADE MD
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC

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