Manufacturer catalog

Solar Defence and Aerospace Limited

Solar Defence and Aerospace Limited is the Nagpur-based Solar Industries India subsidiary formerly known as Economic Explosives Limited, linking this catalog to Indian private-sector defence manufacturing in explosives, ammunition, rockets, warheads, UAVs, counter-drone systems, and loitering munitions.

2 weapons

Solar Defence and Aerospace Limited is the current legal name for the Solar Group defence and explosives entity long reported as Economic Explosives Limited. Registry and rating sources tie the company to the same 1995-incorporated Nagpur business, while Solar Group presents defence as part of a wider industrial-explosives, ammunition, space, and military-products manufacturing portfolio.

For this catalog, the builder matters because Nagastra-1 connects the catalog to Solar Group's private-sector Indian production base for loitering munitions and related defence products. The profile focuses on the company's industrial role, product families, and sourced legal-name history rather than conflict-use claims.

military explosivesammunitionbombs and warheadsrocket integrationUAVs and loitering munitionscounter-UAV systemsinitiating systems and pyrotechnics

Notable Systems

Nagastra-1, Man-portable fixed-wing loitering munition, Aircraft & UAVs

Nagastra-1

Man-portable fixed-wing loitering munition

Solar Group's history page identifies Nagastra-1 as a loitering munition delivered to the Indian Army in 2024-2025; it is the catalog weapon entry currently attached to this builder facet.

Sources: Solar Group about

Bhargavastra

Solar Group and Indian defence-ministry reporting identify Bhargavastra as a counter-drone system being developed by the Solar company.

Sources: PIB Solar Defence facility

Guided Pinaka rockets

Indian defence-ministry reporting says the defence minister visited the Pinaka rocket manufacturing facility and flagged off a tranche of Guided Pinaka rockets at Solar Defence and Aerospace Limited in Nagpur.

Sources: PIB Solar Defence facility

Manufacturer History

  1. Legal entity created

    LEI registry data lists the entity creation date in 1995 and records the same registration authority ID used for Solar Defence and Aerospace Limited.

    Sources: LEI Lookup record

  2. Solar Group enters defence

    Solar Group's history page says the company ventured into the defence sector during this period.

    Sources: Solar Group about

  3. Defence production base expands

    Solar Group says it built facilities for multi-mode hand grenades, pyrotechnics, ignitors, warheads, rocket integration, high-energy materials, TNT, and BrahMos missile booster production during this period.

    Sources: Solar Group about

  4. Private-sector Nagastra order

    Solar Group says it received the first private-company order for the Nagastra-1 loitering munition in 2023.

    Sources: Solar Group about

  5. Renamed from Economic Explosives Limited

    ICRA's rating report notes that Solar Defence and Aerospace Limited was formerly Economic Explosives Limited and that the name changed with effect from February 17, 2025.

    Sources: ICRA rating reaffirmed

  6. Ammunition facility inaugurated

    India's Ministry of Defence said the defence minister inaugurated a medium-caliber ammunition manufacturing facility at Solar Defence and Aerospace Limited in Nagpur and visited the Pinaka rocket manufacturing facility.

    Sources: PIB Solar Defence facility

Predecessors
Economic Explosives Limited
Website links
Official websiteAbout Solar GroupDefence productsDefence overview

Public records use both Solar Defence and Aerospace Limited and the previous Economic Explosives Limited name. The older Economic Explosives label remains relevant for legacy manufacturer facets, while this profile uses the current legal name documented by LEI and ICRA sources. Headquarters coordinates are omitted because this task found a reliable registered-address source but did not add independently sourced map coordinates.

Manufacturer Sources

  • Solar Group homePublisher: Solar Group | Note: Supports Solar Group's current corporate identity and broad industrial, defence, and manufacturing context. | Accessed: 2026-06-21
  • Solar Group aboutPublisher: Solar Group | Note: Supports the company's defence-sector history, product milestones, Nagastra-1 delivery context, and Nagpur location. | Accessed: 2026-06-21
  • Solar Group defencePublisher: Solar Group | Note: Supports the defence-product scope, including rockets and missiles, propellants, bombs and warheads, ammunition and fuzes, high-energy explosives, UAVs, and counter-UAV systems. | Accessed: 2026-06-21
  • Solar Group defence productsPublisher: Solar Group | Note: Supports the catalog-relevant product families: UAS and drones, ammunitions, military explosives, bombs and warheads, rocket integration, R&D, and initiating systems and pyrotechnics. | Accessed: 2026-06-21
  • LEI Lookup recordPublisher: LEI Lookup | Note: Supports the legal name Solar Defence and Aerospace Limited, previous/other entity name Economic Explosives Limited, active status, 1995 entity creation date, Nagpur headquarters address, and Solar Industries India Limited parent relationship. | Accessed: 2026-06-21
  • ICRA rating reaffirmedPublisher: ICRA | Note: Supports the wholly owned subsidiary relationship to Solar Industries India Limited and the February 17, 2025 name change from Economic Explosives Limited to Solar Defence and Aerospace Limited. | Accessed: 2026-06-21
  • PIB Solar Defence facilityPublisher: Press Information Bureau, Government of India | Note: Supports sourced builder context for the Solar Defence and Aerospace Limited Nagpur facility, including the medium-caliber ammunition plant, Pinaka rocket facility, Nagastra drones, and Bhargavastra counter-drone development. | Accessed: 2026-06-21
  • Solar Group Nagastra imagePublisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Image provenance for a Government of India photograph of Solar Group Nagastra loitering munitions displayed at Solar Defence and Aerospace Limited in Nagpur, licensed under the Government Open Data License - India. | Accessed: 2026-06-21

Produced weapons

Category

Aircraft & UAVs

Crewed aircraft, drones, and loitering munitions.

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Nagastra-1, Man-portable fixed-wing loitering munition, Aircraft & UAVs2025 India-Pakistan ConflictNagastra-1Man-portable fixed-wing loitering munitionBuilt in: IndiaNagastra-1 is an Indian man-portable fixed-wing loitering munition developed for the Indian Army by Economic Explosives Limited, now tied publicly to Solar Defence and Aerospace Limited. It combines day-night surveillance, operator control, autonomous range, and a small high-explosive fragmentation warhead for precision strikes, while official Indian reporting identified Nagastra drones as used during Operation Sindoor in the 2025 India-Pakistan Conflict.

Category

Munitions

Standalone missiles, bombs, rockets, torpedoes, and guided or unguided explosive payloads.

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