The Arjun Mk-1A main battle tank, of which the Defence Ministry ordered 118 in September 2021 for Rs 7,523 crore, was designed a few hundred metres from where it is built. The design house is the Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment (CVRDE) at Avadi, a laboratory of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). The factory is the Heavy Vehicles Factory (HVF) on the same western edge of Chennai.
Most people in Avadi know the area for its ordnance and defence campuses rather than for the engineering work inside them. CVRDE is the part of that cluster that does research and design: tracked armoured vehicles, their engines and transmissions, and the carriers that move missiles around a battlefield.
How a vehicle lab ended up in Avadi
DRDO’s own historical note on CVRDE traces the lab’s roots back to 1929, when the Chief Inspectorate of Mechanical Transport Establishment was set up at Chaklala, now in Pakistan. After Partition, that work moved to a new Technical Development Establishment (Vehicles) at Ahmednagar in 1947. When DRDO was formed in 1958, the Ahmednagar unit was renamed the Vehicles Research and Development Establishment (VRDE).
Avadi came into the picture in 1965. The Nuclear Threat Initiative’s facility profile notes that the government decided that year to build the Heavy Vehicles Factory at Avadi to make Vijayanta tanks with technical cooperation from Vickers of the UK, and to place a research unit alongside it to absorb that technology. DRDO’s timeline gives the next steps:
- 1967: an R&D cell from VRDE Ahmednagar starts work at Avadi as “VRDE, Avadi”.
- 1969: the detachment becomes a full research establishment.
- 26 March 1975: it becomes independent and takes the name Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment.
That pairing of a design lab and a production factory side by side is the reason so much of India’s armoured vehicle history runs through Avadi.
Arjun Mk-1A: the tank designed here
The Arjun is CVRDE’s best-known product. A compilation of reports in DRDO’s news clippings for 24 September 2021 sets out how the improved Mk-1A version came about. Development began in June 2010, user trials started in June 2012, and the tank covered more than 7,000 km of automotive testing between 2012 and 2015 along with firing trials. The Army’s trial team recommended induction after trials in December 2018.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi handed over the Mk-1A to the then Army Chief, Gen M.M. Naravane, in Chennai on 14 February 2021. Seven months later, on 23 September 2021, the ministry placed the production order with HVF Avadi. A Deccan Herald report on the order quoted the ministry as saying the tank carried 72 new features over the Mk-1. The same report said the order would draw in over 200 Indian vendors, including small and medium firms, and create work for about 8,000 people.
| Arjun Mk-1A detail | Figure |
|---|---|
| Tanks ordered (23 Sept 2021) | 118 |
| Order value | Rs 7,523 crore |
| New features over Mk-1 (MoD) | 72 |
| Main gun | 120 mm rifled |
| Indigenous content, Mk-1 to Mk-1A (reported) | 41% to 54.3% |
| Weight (reported) | 68.25 tonnes |
The weight figure has been a long-running point of debate. Commentators cited in the same DRDO clippings argued that a tank that heavy is best suited to the Rajasthan desert and is harder to move by rail and air.
Missile carriers and the Zorawar light tank
CVRDE does not only build tanks. The NTI profile records that the lab adapted tracked armoured chassis into carriers for the Akash and Trishul surface-to-air missiles and the Nag anti-tank missile. The Nag carrier holds 12 missiles, four ready to fire, and is built to work in a nuclear, biological or chemical environment.
The newest programme is the Zorawar light tank, designed by CVRDE with Larsen & Toubro as the production partner. It is meant for high-altitude areas where the Arjun’s weight would be a problem. BW Businessworld reported that the first phase of field firing trials was completed in desert terrain on 13 September 2024. In October 2025, CVRDE demonstrated the Nag Mk II anti-tank missile being fired from the Zorawar, according to Business Today, which said the Army is slated to get its first batch by 2027.
Engines: the 1,500 hp powerpack
A tank is only as independent as its engine. Under a project begun in August 2020, Bengaluru-headquartered BEML test-fired India’s first indigenously developed 1,500 hp tank engine prototype at its Mysuru engine division on 20 March 2024. BEML’s press release says the engine is designed for 5,000 m altitude, minus 40 degrees Celsius and desert heat of 55 degrees. In the next phase, BEML is to supply engines for trials at CVRDE, which will integrate them into vehicles for user testing.
Can the public visit or work there?
CVRDE is a defence establishment, so there is no public entry or walk-in tour. Chennai residents usually see its work at defence expos and DRDO exhibitions. Jobs and research fellowships at the lab are advertised through DRDO’s recruitment channels and the Employment News; anyone offering a “placement” at CVRDE for a fee should be treated with suspicion.
Quick answers
Is CVRDE the same as HVF Avadi?
No. CVRDE is a DRDO research and design laboratory. HVF is the factory that manufactures tanks such as the Arjun Mk-1A. They sit close together in Avadi by design.
When did CVRDE get its name?
DRDO dates the independent establishment and its present name to 26 March 1975. Its Avadi presence began as a VRDE cell in 1967.
What is CVRDE working on now?
Recent public milestones include the Zorawar light tank trials with L&T and integration work on the indigenous 1,500 hp engine being developed with BEML.
Information checked against official sources on 18 October 2026. Fees, dates and rules can change; confirm on the linked official pages before acting.
Sources
- CVRDE historical background (DRDO)
- DRDO news clippings, 24 September 2021 (DRDO)
- 1500 HP engine test firing press release (BEML)
- Combat Vehicles R&D Establishment (Nuclear Threat Initiative)
- Government places order of 118 tanks (Deccan Herald)
- Zorawar field trials (BW Businessworld)
- Zorawar missile firing trial (Business Today)
