Indian Army has been relying on Maruti Suzuki for one of their most used vehicles, the mighty Gypsy. Ever since the first gypsy was delivered to the Army, the orders have been showering over the automakers, and this time, another order of 2,071 gypsies have been given to Maruti Suzuki.
Prior to ordering Gypsies for as much as INR 125 crores, the Indian Army had also shortlisted Tata Safari and Mahindra Scorpio with an aim of replacing the old fleet of SUVs. The order was of 3,200 vehicles.
This order for Gypsies was placed by the Army under the GS 500 category about a couple of weeks back. It is also believed that the automakers are being prompt in the delivery and will start dispatching the vehicles in the next few months. Gypsies have been used in the Indian Army since 1991. 1,500 Gypsies were provided in the first year of the contract, after which, a total of 35,000 Gypsies have been dispatched to the Indian Army so far by Maruti Suzuki.
The previous December saw the largest single order for the carmakers by the Indian Army. 4,000 units of this SUV were ordered by them. Indian Army has been ordering so many such SUVs and making fleets of these vehicles because of the trust they have built up in this. These SUVs are usually used as off roaders and help in meeting the requirement of travelling in rough terrains.
Most of the Gypsies are used in the terrains of Assam, deserts of Rajasthan, and Ladakh. These are few of those places where a normal car would fail to deliver what the army requires, and hence the Gypsies are used. The vehicles have been specially designed for the Indian Army and will come with black-out-convoy lights, capable of emitting green rays in times of black-outs. The vehicle will also be able to tow other vehicles and have a special hook for it. These hooks have been designed to serve the purpose of mounting of weapons too. These are the reasons why Indian Army has developed so much trust in the company.
