RAKSHA ANIRVEDA
IN FOCUS
CORPORATISATION OF THE OFB: A SIGNIFICANT STEP TOWARDS ‘ATMANIRBHARTA’ With the government’s announcement that the OFB will be corporatised, there is a need to ensure that functional and oversight mechanisms are not so overbearing as to revert it to a department with a ‘corporate’ avatar By R CHANDRASHEKHAR
I
n follow-up to the Prime Minister’s call for ‘Atmanirbharta’, the Finance Minister mentioned eight sectors for structural reforms which included defence production. In regard to defence sector, the Finance Minister mentioned some major areas of reform. These are: (a) the notification of a list of weapons and platforms not to be imported after a specific date, (b) introduction of time-bound procurement processes, (c) raising of FDI limit for foreign firms to participate in manufacture of defence stores and importantly, (d) corporatisation of the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB).
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This article seeks to analyse the functioning of the OFB and the expectations from corporatisation of the OFB towards self-reliance in defence manufacturing.
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INDIA’S ORDNANCE FACTORIES
The Indian Ordnance Factories (OFs) trace their origin back to 1787 when a gun powder factory was established at Ishapore. A Gun Carriage Agency established at Cossipore in 1801 exists today as the Gun & Shell Factory. The family of 16 OFs at the time of India’s Independence are now 41 in number and supported by nine Training Institutes, three Regional Marketing Centres and four Regional Controllers of Safety. The OFs take pride, and rightfully so, in their broad and versatile production base, multitechnology capabilities, and
their large reservoir of skilled and professionally qualified work force.
EXISTING COMMAND STRUCTURE
The OFB, the apex command and control organisation for the OFs, was constituted in 1979. Based in Kolkata, it is headed by the Director General Ordnance Factories (DGOF) as Chairman with nine members in the rank of Additional DGOF. The OFs are grouped into five ‘Operating Divisions’ based on the type of products and technologies. These are the Ammunition and Explosives (A&E); Weapons, Vehicles & Equipment (WV&E); Materials and Components (M&C); Armoured Vehicle (AV) and the Ordnance Equipment Group of Factories (OEF) Divisions.
OFB PRODUCT RANGE
A list of OFB products for which OFB has indigenous industrial capability to produce are as tabulated below:
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