On August 10, 2020, as a part of the Atma Nirbhar Week celebration (Atmanirbharta Saptah) between August 7-14, 2020 of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and to boost Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan (self-reliant India movement), the Union Defence Minister (Raksha Mantri) Rajnath Singh virtually launched the initiatives for modernisation and upgradation of facilities at defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) and Ordnance Factory Board (OFB).
Following tables shows the new launches:
Manufacturing Units where Upgradation of facilities launched
| Manufacturing Unit | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Pinaka Rocket Complex at Ordnance Factory (OF) Chanda in Chandrapur, Maharashtra | To meet the enhanced requirement of Pinaka and other rockets |
| OF Tiruchirappalli in Tamil Nadu | Assembling and testing facility for Stabilized Remote Control Guns (SRCG) |
| Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) | Fully indigenised Maareech Integration facility launched facility for manufacturing, integration and testing of Anti Torpedo Defence System Maareech,designed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) |
| BEML (previously Bharat Earth Movers Limited) | It has set up Industrial Design Centre (IDC) at Bengaluru, a first of its kind in India for setting the global benchmarking in Industrial Design and Ergonomics in Products |
| Koraput division of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in Odisha | It has handed over the 500th AL-31FP overhauled engine to the IAF for its Su-30MKI. |
Manufacturing Units where Modernisation of facilities launched
| Manufacturing Unit | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Opto Electronics Factory (OLF), Dehradun in Uttarakhand | Manufacturing of high-end Optoelectronic products for T-90 Tanks. |
| Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Ltd (GRSE) | Enhance the capacity of its Raja Bagan Dockyard in Kolkata, West Bengal to meet the production requirement of the ongoing P17A project for Indian Navy. |
| Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL), Hyderabad | Foundation stone laid for ‘Seeker Facility Centre’ (SFC) to manufacture missile system and ‘Warhead Production Facility’ for manufacturing and testing of indigenously developed warheads required for Konkurs-M, Invar, Akash, Astra missiles etc. |
| Goa Shipyard Limited | Steel Preparation Shop (SPS) inaugurated to enable indigenous construction of high technology Glass Reinforced Plastic (GRP) hull MCMVs along with other supporting infrastructure for the country. |
| Mishra Dhatu Nigam Limited (MIDHANI) | It has been set up as “Center of Excellence – Special Materials” under its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) & Sustainable Development Policy for Promoting applied research for the development of Special Materials used in aerospace, defence, nuclear, space and other strategic areas. |
Participants: Minister of State (MoS), MoD, Shripad Yesso Naik, Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar, Secretary Defence Production Raj Kumar, Vice Admiral R Hari kumar Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee (CISC), senior officers from Department of Defence Production (DDP) and Chairman of DPSUs and OFB participated in the event through video conference links.
Recent Related News:
On May 8, 2020 The Defence Ministry has signed a contract worth around Rs 1,200 crore with Tata Power Strategic Engineering Division(TPSED) for Phase-II of Modernisation of AirField Infrastructure(MAFI) of 37 airfields for Indian Air Force(IAF), Indian Navy (IN) and Indian Coast Guard (ICG).
About Ordnance Factory Board (OFB):
Ordnance Factories is the oldest and largest industrial setup under the Department of Defence Production (DPP) of the Ministry of Defence (MoD). There are 41 Ordnance Factories under the aegis of its corporate headquarters in Kolkata, West Bengal.
Chairman of Ordnance Factory Board– Hari Mohan
