Ordnance Factory Board: In a major achievement for India’s state owned defence manufacturer, Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) has received an export order from the USA to supply ammunition for 5.56×45 mm NATO rounds.
“The ammunition will be manufactured at Ordnance Factory Varangaon in Maharashtra and will be supplied in the current fiscal year,” OFB Deputy Director General Gagan Chaturvedi said.
He said that the ordnance factories have been exporting ammunition to foreign nations and have been fulfilling the commitments within the given time.
India had inherited 18 ordnance factories established by the British at the time of Independence. Currently, the OFB oversees 41 factories, 13 development centres and 9 institutes of learning.
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The government is pushing for the corporatisation of the OFB, citing that it has been an ailing establishment and they want to make it at par with other defence public sector undertakings managed by its own board of directors with broad guidelines from the ministry of defence.
The government has envisioned growth of the OFB post corporatisation, expecting it to raise its turnover to Rs 30,000 crore by FY 2024-25 as against the existing turnover of Rs 12,000 crore per year.
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The government has set up a high-level panel to work out a roadmap to achieve the same.
The corporatisation of OFB will improve its autonomy, accountability and efficiency in Ordnance Supplies, it had stated.
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