New Delhi: In a move to improve the personal protection of government officials, the fleet of familiar white Ambassador cars used for transporting them will soon be replaced by armour plated Tata Safaris, official sources said.

Midhani, a defence undertaking in Hyderabad, which manufactures armour plates for tanks and military vehicles, is making available the armour plates needed for making Tata Safari's critical body parts, they said.

The plates are too tough to be handled at Tata's own workshops. They will be cut, drilled and welded by lasers at the International Advanced Centre for Research for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials, also in Hyderabad.

Finished parts will be delivered to the vehicle manufacturer for assembly, the sources said.

As the armoured Tata Safaris will be much heavier than their normal counterparts, the vehicles supplied to the government would be fitted with more powerful engines, the sources added.

PTI