As part of the Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India) to corporatize the production in Defence sector, Defence Ministry of India had dissolved the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB).
- Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) is an entity under the Department of Defence Production (DDP), Ministry of Defence (MoD) which supplies critical arms and ammunition to the three-armed forces and the paramilitary.
i.As per the announcement issued by the Government of India on May 16,2020, the management, control, operations and maintenance of 41 production units and identified non-production units under OFB will be transferred to the wholly government owned seven defence PSUs (Public Sector Units) with effect from October 1,2021.
ii.The employees of OFB (Group A, B & C) who are working in production and non-production units will be moved to the new DPSUs on terms of foreign service without any deputation allowance (deemed deputation) initially for a period of two years.
iii.New DPSUs are required to frame rules and regulations related to service conditions of the dispersed employees and also a committee will be set up by DDP (Department of Defence Production) to guide new DPSUs in this regard.
Gist about Seven Defence PSUs
Seven new companies will be operated by Indian Government for defence production with ₹91,200 crore as authorised capital to improve accountability and efficiency of defence production units.
Seven new companies are: –
- Troop Comforts Ltd. and Gliders India are reorganised for manufacturing textiles.
- Munitions India Ltd., India Optel Ltd., Armoured Vehicles Nigam Ltd., Advanced Weapons and Equipment India Ltd., and Yantra India Ltd. are into manufacturing machinery and equipment.
About Ordnance Factory Board (OFB)
OFB is the 37th largest defence equipment manufacturer in the world, 2nd-largest in Asia, and the largest in India.OFB is the world’s largest government-operated production organisation, and the oldest organisation in India.
Founded – 1712
Headquarters – Ayudh Bhawan, Kolkata
Director General Ordnance Factories & Chairman – C S Vishwakarma, IOFS
