Crown Defence has set up an indigenous Printed Circuit Board (PCB) assembly facility at Verna, Goa, aimed at strengthening domestic capabilities in high-reliability electronics for defence platforms and select civil applications.
Established under Aviatech Enterprises (AEPL), the group’s aviation vertical, the facility is designed to support mission-critical electronics across aviation, maritime and land systems. According to the company, the unit will deliver high-precision PCB assembly solutions and is expected to commence operations in March 2026. It will be open for engagement with both domestic and international programmes.
The facility can support PCB assemblies ranging from 80 × 80 mm to 460 × 460 mm, with board thickness capability from 0.4 mm to 8 mm and controlled edge clearance standards of 3–5 mm. Crown Defence said the setup is aligned with reliability, consistency and traceability requirements typically associated with strategic and regulated programmes.
The company described the unit as a strategic electronics capability hub intended to address growing demand for domestic PCBA solutions. Industry estimates place the Indian PCBA market at around USD 6.3 billion, expanding at nearly 16 per cent CAGR, driven by defence, industrial and electronics manufacturing demand. With more than 1,000 items now covered under government import restrictions, including several PCB assemblies previously sourced overseas, access to domestic assembly capacity has become increasingly important.
Vice Admiral (Retd) Paras Nath, Group President, Crown Defence, said electronics availability is becoming a key determinant of platform readiness and upgrade cycles, adding that in-country PCB assembly capability could improve supply predictability and reduce external dependencies.
Commodore (Retd) SK Iyer, Head of Aviation at Aviatech Enterprises, stated that the Verna unit is expected to enable closer integration between electronics assembly and downstream aviation support activities, with the potential to enhance quality control and execution timelines for modernisation and sustainment programmes.
Crown Defence operates through specialised group companies providing maintenance, repair, overhaul, upgrades and modernisation services across defence and civil domains. The addition of PCB assembly capability is expected to complement the group’s existing system-level sustainment portfolio and support broader defence and industrial requirements.