Ten-Year-Old, Six-Man-Strong UK Firm Bags Contracts Worth Rs 31.6 Crore To Supply Indian Army With Musical Instruments

A UK firm, British Band Instrument Company, has won two contracts worth £3.5 million (approximately Rs 31.6 crore) to supply musical instruments to the Indian Army, reports Times of India. The London-based firm has only six employees and was founded barely 10 years ago.

One of the contracts is to equip 26 Indian military bands, and the other is to supply 47 regimental centres with drums, cornets, trombones, tubas, flutes, clarinets, French Horns and euphoniums.

The founder of the company Alun Hughes stated that it was one of the company’s biggest ever contracts. Talking about the Indian Army’s requirements, he said, “They want to use the same instruments they’ve historically been supplied. We provide the same quality and specification as Boosey & Hawkes. These instruments are not manufactured in India to my knowledge.”

He said that although Indian military bands were almost the same as British military bands due to colonial era influence, but some instruments like bagpipes, which are thought to be from Scotland, were adopted from the Indian sub-continent and the Middle-east.

Hughes’ company now supplies musical equipment to clients in 70 different countries, manufacturing its products under a license from Boosey & Hawkes, which is a well-known corporation involved in music publishing and manufacturing of musical instruments.