Aroo creates specialised defence clothing for Indian Army

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Apr 25, 2022

Defence start-up Aroo has developed the first ever Indian-made ‘Extreme Cold Weather Clothing System’ for the Indian Army and, following testing, is manufacturing the clothing in Bengaluru. 

“We were inspired by the government's policies of ‘Make in India’,” said Aroo’s co-founder Rohit Bedi in a press release. “Our vision started with the Indian government's focus to promote the indigenisation of key imported products to decrease the dependencies on imports. Our mission is to provide world-class protection solutions for our 'Jawans', and our ambition is to exceed any world manufacturer in terms of product, quality, and pricing.”
 
The ECWCS passed field trials in 2017 and has now entered the manufacturing phase. The clothing is designed to be worn by soldiers in temperatures of up to -50 degrees celsius and has a three-layer modular system.

“With the government's initiative and thrust of encouraging Indian defence manufacturing,” said Bedi. “Aroo realised the potential in this segment because a large portion of the special clothing and mountain equipment was being imported into the country.”
 
According to Aroo, its products out-perform previous foreign imports.

“Aroo creates high-performance military-grade textiles with a functional design sensibility that provides comfort, performance, and protection to the end-user,” said co-founder Munish Hinduja in a press release. “The product's complexity requires a high level of technical ability in sewing and apparel construction. Our OEM for ECWCS has specialised infrastructure for seam sealing, sewing, and testing at both the textile and garment manufacturer levels.”
 
Rohit Bedi and Munish Hinduja launched Aroo to develop apparel and gear in the defence space and manufacture its garments with its original equipment manufacturers to supply its goods to the armed forces. Both founders come from military families.