Hyderabad-based Lokesh Machines Ltd. has secured a contract from Assam Rifles for the supply of 1013 ASMI Carbines. The company emerged L1 after a techno-commercial evaluation amongst a host of bidders.
This is the company’s second successful sale of the indigenously designed developed and manufactured (IDDM) SMG. On 6 April 2024, Lokesh Machines Limited (LMT) emerged as the L1 contender, beating the likes of PLR Systems and Jindal Defence, to clinch a contract to supply 550 ASMI Submachine Pistols to the Special Forces of the Indian Army. The Rs 4.6 crore contract marks the first order for an indigenous small arm after the INSAS rifle.
Jindal Defence Taurus T-9 secured a separate contract worth Rs 4.25 crore for 550 9x19mm Machine Pistols for the Indian Army. The Taurus T-9 is the result of a collaboration between India’s Jindal Defence and Brazilian strategic defence manufacturing conglomerate Taurus. The T-9 submachine pistols will be manufactured in India through Transfer of Technology (ToT).
The ASMI is the brainchild of Colonel Prasad Bansod, the only Indian Army officer in the last 75 years to have designed and developed a weapon. It was developed at the DRDO’s small arms division at the Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE), Pune.
Presently in limited series production, the 9×19 mm carbine was designed to replace a million World War 2 era British-designed Sterling carbines and to be an attractive export option because of its low cost, estimated to be less than Rs 50,000 per piece. Not only has it been supplied to the Indian Army, but limited numbers have also been supplied to NSG, ITBP, BSF, etc.
Lokesh Machine Tools has also developed a 7.62x51mm belt-fed medium machine gun (MMG). The belt-fed MMG too has been developed in collaboration with ARDE. The MMG can fire in single-shot and fully automatic mode, can fire 800 rounds per minute and has a range of 1800 metres. It has a belt capacity of 250 rounds and can be attached to additional belts.
The machine gun can be mounted on naval vessels, armoured vehicles and aircraft. It can operate at extreme temperatures ranging from -40 degrees to + 55 degrees Celsius. Lokesh Machine Tools was awarded a Rs 17.7 crore contract on 6 August 2025 to supply the components for the in-service MMGs, which are the Belgian FN Herstal MAG-58 known as MAG 2A1, manufactured under license by the erstwhile Ordinance Factory Board (OFB), now known as AWEIL.