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The Indian company allegedly linked to a deal to supply artillery shells to Estonia for onward delivery to Ukraine has no dealings with the Ministry of Defence or the Indian armed forces, Defence officials said.
The clarification comes after the company was linked to an alleged ammunition procurement controversy in Estonia, which has led to the resignation of now former Estonian Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur. Against this backdrop, officials clarified that the company has not received any supply orders from the Indian armed forces. However, they added that it may have supplied equipment to state police forces, as claimed on its website. "NECO Defence has no dealings or supply orders from our armed forces, but they may have supplied to state police as claimed on their website," Defence officials told ANI. The officials also said the company has no connection or dealings with the Ministry of Defence (MoD). "No connection or dealings with MoD," the officials added. NECO Defence is part of a Nagpur-based group of companies involved in the steel manufacturing business. They added that the company recently acquired Datasel, a small Italian firm involved in the manufacture of small arms and ammunition. The firm also has a manufacturing facility in Romania, which has a contract to fill artillery shells for supply to Estonia and their onward delivery to Ukraine, the officials further said. Hanno Pevkur announced on September 2 that he would step down following controversy over an alleged arms deal to supply Ukraine. The controversy centred on the use of European Union funds to allegedly purchase artillery shells from companies that had no previous track record of producing such weapons. Earlier, Euronews, citing Estonian public broadcaster ERR, reported that the Estonian government had struck a deal in 2024 to acquire artillery shells for Ukraine, paying 70 million euros upfront from the EU's European Peace Facility to fund the purchase. (ANI)
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