OFB, MoD Companies: News & Discussion

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ramana
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Re: OFB, MoD Companies Discussion Thread

Post by ramana »

A very pertinent article on Defence Research in India


Defence Research India's Achilles Heel

almost all the ills are mentioned
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Re: OFB, MoD Companies Discussion Thread

Post by nithish »

Defence ministry to adopt new procurement policy
The defence ministry will be adopting a new procurement policy that will define the level of indigenous content for defence equipment and give higher preference to local vendors in contracts and to start with, it has identified military textiles such as bulletproof jackets, boots and high altitude clothing for this purpose.
---
According to the order, the minimum local content for an item should be 50%. While officials explained that quantum of indigenous content has not been fixed, the order adds that a ministry can prescribe a higher or lower percentage of it for a particular product.

“The nodal ministry may annually review the local content requirements with a view to increasing them, subject to availability of sufficient local competition with adequate quality,” the order said.

Another important part of the order is that the purchase preference for a product will be given to local suppliers. An official explained that in the procurement of an item where there is an adequate vendor base and if its value is Rs 50 lakh or less, then only local suppliers are eligible.

In cases where the procurement value is more than Rs 50 lakh, if the L1 (lowest bidder) is a local supplier, the contract for the full quantity will be awarded to it. However, if the L1is a foreign vendor, then only 50% of the order quantity will be awarded to it.

“Thereafter, the lowest bidder among the local suppliers, will be invited to match the L1 price for the remaining 50%. This will, however, be subject to the local supplier’s quoted price falling within the margin of the purchase preference,” explained an official.

If the lowest eligible local supplier fails to match the L1 price, then the next higher local supplier within the margin of the purchase preference will be invited to match the L1price for the remaining quantity.
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Re: OFB, MoD Companies Discussion Thread

Post by ramana »

Dated article 19 November 2018 on explosion at CAD Pulgaon while destroying old 23 mm ammunition.

LINK

Hazardous ammo was being destroyed at CAD,
The article implies contractor personnel were also involved.

So could be handling of the ammo.
Wonder if there is correlation with the 40 mm ammo issues recently mentioned by TOI.
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Re: OFB, MoD Companies Discussion Thread

Post by ramana »

Please post full.text

https://twitter.com/CestMoiz/status/113 ... 39105?s=19

Need to.find .root cause
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Re: OFB, MoD Companies Discussion Thread

Post by MeshaVishwas »

85 nations on radar to push sale of Made-In-India military goods
https://m.economictimes.com/news/defenc ... 733385.cms

Adminullahs can move it to the right thread.
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Re: OFB, MoD Companies Discussion Thread

Post by ramana »

https://m.timesofindia.com/city/nagpur/ ... ssion=true

Dated article but talks of hazards due to storage of old explosives in OFB.
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Re: OFB, MoD Companies Discussion Thread

Post by ramana »

ramana
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Re: OFB, MoD Companies Discussion Thread

Post by ramana »

SJha has been tweeting parts of it.
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Re: OFB, MoD Companies Discussion Thread

Post by jaysimha »

Monthly Summary for the Cabinet for the month of June 2019
Date: 02/08/2019
https://ddpmod.gov.in/news
https://ddpmod.gov.in/sites/default/fil ... 202019.pdf

OFB received largest ever single export order of 45.75 Million USD (Rs. 315 Cr approx.) for supply of 50,000 Nos each of 155 mm HE ERFB BT Shell and Primer M19l-A2 to UAE
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Re: OFB, MoD Companies Discussion Thread

Post by ramana »

jaysimha wrote:Monthly Summary for the Cabinet for the month of June 2019
Date: 02/08/2019
https://ddpmod.gov.in/news
https://ddpmod.gov.in/sites/default/fil ... 202019.pdf

OFB received largest ever single export order of 45.75 Million USD (Rs. 315 Cr approx.) for supply of 50,000 Nos each of 155 mm HE ERFB BT Shell and Primer M19l-A2 to UAE
The Primer M191-A2 is used to set off the shell after the fuze functions.
So essentially these are 50K completed ERFB shells.


Should see if BBU or BT units are also ordered.

The pdf says BT version ordered.
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Re: OFB, MoD Companies Discussion Thread

Post by JayS »

GOI considering converting OFBs to DPSUs. Half hearted attempt to reform..?

https://twitter.com/DefProdnIndia/statu ... 4474721280
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Re: OFB, MoD Companies Discussion Thread

Post by Vips »

Defence production target set at Rs 90K crore for 2019-20.

The department of defence production has set itself a target of producing equipment worth Rs 90,000 crore in the financial year 2019-20. Exports worth Rs 15,000 crore have been envisaged from the total quantity of equipment produced.

The target set by the department for 2019-20 is nearly 12 per cent higher than the production achieved in the previous financial year. In the financial year 2018-19, the department had produced equipment worth Rs 80,502 crore.

Exports had accounted for Rs 10,745 crore worth of equipment in the financial year 2018-19.

According to the department, greater focus will be placed on modernisation and indigenisation of domestic manufacturing in order to boost production.

Speaking at a seminar on modernisation and indigenisation of the IAF in New Delhi on Tuesday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had stressed upon the need to reduce

dependency on defence imports. He had also said that India continues to be one of the largest importers of defence equipment in the world. "Of that which is produced within the country, there is a sizeable dependency on foreign original equipment manufacturers for subsystems and components. We need to cut down dependency on foreign manufacturers and develop comprehensive capabilities ourselves," Singh had said.

Defence production in India has grown from Rs 74,121 crore in the year 2016-17 to Rs 80,502 crore in 2018-19. In the year 2017-18, defence production in India had touched Rs 78,817 crore.

Defence exports have witnessed a tremendous growth from Rs 1,521 crore in 2016-17 to Rs 10,745 crore in 2018-19. In 2017-18, the exports figure had stood at Rs 4,682 crore.

As per ministry sources, part of this steep increase in exports is owing to the government policies and initiatives. "Boost for Indian Defence Exporters. UK appoints Mr Dominic Beales, in British High Commission Delhi as local liaison officer for support to Indian exporters in defence/aerospace," tweeted Secretary (Defence Production) Dr Ajay Kumar on Wednesday.

The department of defence production is one of the four wings functioning under the Defence Ministry and has an officer of the rank of Secretary at its helm of affairs. The department deals with matters pertaining to defence production, indigenisation of imported stores, equipment and spares, and planning and control of departmental production units of the Ordnance Factory Board and Defence Public Sector Undertakings.
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Re: OFB, MoD Companies Discussion Thread

Post by Kartik »

India pushes ahead with OFB corporatisation despite protests
The Indian Ministry of Defence (MoD) will set up a new committee to oversee the corporatisation of the state-run Ordnance Factory Board (OFB). The move was reported by local media on 22 August, two days after OFB workers started a one-month strike against government moves to restructure the enterprise.

Reports in India said the new committee will be tasked by the MoD to improve the running of the OFB and make its network of 41 defence factories across the country ‘more accountable, more efficient, and more productive’.

The committee is also expected to review moves to either convert the OFB and its factories into a single public-sector corporation or to dissect its subsidiaries into a series of standalone entities, each accountable for its own productivity.
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Re: OFB, MoD Companies Discussion Thread

Post by khan »

JayS wrote:GOI considering converting OFBs to DPSUs. Half hearted attempt to reform..?

https://twitter.com/DefProdnIndia/statu ... 4474721280
You can’t sell/privatize anything w/o a Profit/Loss statement or incorporating it into a legal entity.

IMO this could be viewed as a first step.
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Re: OFB, MoD Companies Discussion Thread

Post by Gyan »

Air India, NTC are PSUs

How did it help?
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Re: OFB, MoD Companies Discussion Thread

Post by khan »

Gyan wrote:Air India, NTC are PSUs

How did it help?
GOI can privatize them at any time. They just need to make the decision (hope they do it soon). At the very least, now there is transparency into how much they are costing the taxpayer,
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Re: OFB, MoD Companies Discussion Thread

Post by ramana »

Gyan, Look at Royal Ordnance Factories template.
The ROF was corporatised and then sold to BAE.
Most of things that MoD does is copy of British.
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Re: OFB, MoD Companies Discussion Thread

Post by nachiket »

Gyan wrote:Air India, NTC are PSUs

How did it help?
Problem with selling PSU's like Air India, BSNL etc. is finding buyers. If OFB is converted into a PSU, there would be no shortage of buyers if the govt. tried selling them thereafter. So it is a step in the right direction.
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Re: OFB, MoD Companies Discussion Thread

Post by Manish_P »

:evil:

HAL Crippled As 20,000 Employees Declare Strike For Wages
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited or HAL is India’s premier, state-owned aerospace and defence company, which comes directly under Ministry Of Defence.

All operations under HAL has been grounded, and the defense manufacturing company is right now crippled, as 20,000 employees have joined a massive strike against their own management.

The issue here is wage revision.
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Re: OFB, MoD Companies Discussion Thread

Post by ramana »

How is the rejection rate of OFB produced ammo?

What are the causes?

Do the CAG reports address this issue?

Past there have been safety related problems with mines.
Then shells were blowing up in gun barrels.
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Re: OFB, MoD Companies Discussion Thread

Post by Vips »

Manish_P wrote::evil:

HAL Crippled As 20,000 Employees Declare Strike For Wages
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited or HAL is India’s premier, state-owned aerospace and defence company, which comes directly under Ministry Of Defence.

All operations under HAL has been grounded, and the defense manufacturing company is right now crippled, as 20,000 employees have joined a massive strike against their own management.

The issue here is wage revision.
Golden opportunity for us to get rid of a public company with PSU mind set. Govt should use this opportunity, privatize it and raise mush needed cash/resources for use elsewhere from disinvestment.
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Re: OFB, MoD Companies Discussion Thread

Post by jaysimha »

Further to the previously notified 'Policy for indigenization of components and spares used in defence platforms for DPSUs/ OFBs', the Department of Defence Production (DDP) has now approved a 'Framework for placing Long Term Orders for indigenization by Defence PSUs and OFB'.


http://www.mondaq.com/Article/886174
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Re: OFB, MoD Companies Discussion Thread

Post by ramana »

X-Post...
nachiket wrote:If MoD hadn't paid dues to the tune of thousands of crores to a private company (foreign or domestic) there would be arbitration proceedings going on right now and MoD would end up paying through their (taxpayer's) noses eventually. They know that very well. So they don't default on payments to private (especially foreign) vendors. With HAL, it looks like there is a "sab kuch chalta hai" attitude since it is a government agency and is not going to sue the MoD.

And yes if they had defaulted on payments to a private vendor that vendor would not be drilling a single hole (in a manual or automated manner) to fulfill more orders.

Can someone go through HAL annual report and see if this still persists?

I would be interested in knowing when this started and what were the reasons?
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Re: OFB, MoD Companies Discussion Thread

Post by ramana »

Also, I missed the last CAG and Parliamentary report links if they were posted here.
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Re: OFB, MoD Companies Discussion Thread

Post by ramana »

Please read every word by It Gen Ravi Shankar

https://www.gunnersshot.com/2020/06/atm ... t.html?m=1
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Re: OFB, MoD Companies Discussion Thread

Post by basant »

ramana wrote:Also, I missed the last CAG and Parliamentary report links if they were posted here.
Ramana garu, I think the last one released was 2018-19 for Tejas. The link is not working right now. You can either use cached page or I can email it to you if you wish.
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Re: OFB, MoD Companies Discussion Thread

Post by ramana »

KaranM already posted thanks.
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Re: OFB, MoD Companies Discussion Thread

Post by ArjunPandit »

should we see the OFB, HAL strikes in isolation? These are strikes proposed by unions/larger bodies, which are expected to look beyond individual needs and greater benefits
1. At best it is height of opportunism to take advantage of emerging situation
2. At worst it is active connivance or acting at the behest of enemy or the scorched earth policy by cong or a combination of both
In either case it weakens the raison de etre of these PSUs
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Re: OFB, MoD Companies Discussion Thread

Post by MeshaVishwas »

Centre sets ball rolling on OFB Corporatisation
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/ind ... 835782.cms
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Re: OFB, MoD Companies Discussion Thread

Post by nandakumar »

The structure of OFB is a legacy issue. There seems no reason why HAL producing fighter planes can be a corporate entity with public shareholders but an entity producing main battle tanks can't be.
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Re: OFB, MoD Companies Discussion Thread

Post by Rakesh »

Not sure if this was posted nearly 3 years ago...

Government sacks high ranking ordnance factories' service officers for ‘Unsatisfactory Performance’
https://swarajyamag.com/insta/governmen ... erformance
13 Aug 2017

Image
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Re: OFB, MoD Companies Discussion Thread

Post by Venkarl »

New Delhi: Bhadrapada 09, 1939??
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Re: OFB, MoD Companies Discussion Thread

Post by abhik »

Saar why recycle old news? It was well reported and discussed.
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Re: OFB, MoD Companies Discussion Thread

Post by Rakesh »

abhik wrote:Saar why recycle old news? It was well reported and discussed.
Saar, that is why I said that in my post above :)
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Re: OFB, MoD Companies Discussion Thread

Post by prasannasimha »

Venkarl wrote:New Delhi: Bhadrapada 09, 1939??
Correct that is Shalivahana Shaka which is an official calenar of India and this is a 2017 notice
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Re: OFB, MoD Companies Discussion Thread

Post by MeshaVishwas »

Burden of OFB: Liability at Armed Forces’ Cost- Lt Gen J. K Sharma
The clarion call given by the Prime Minister on 12th May for a “Self Reliant India” amidst the Covid 19 crisis and the announcement by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on 16 May that the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) would be corporatized could be a welcome change. However, since she also mentioned that it did not mean privatization and the corporatized OFB will remain under government control, indirectly implying Ministry of Defence (MoD), leads to inferences that nothing is likely to change.

Ordnance Factories are the oldest and largest organization in India’s defence industry with a history that dates back to 1787. There are 41 Factories divided under five clusters or operating groups which are supposed to produce a range of arms, ammunition, weapons, armoured and infantry combat vehicles, and clothing items including parachutes for the defence services. They function under the Ordnance Factory Board (Board) which is under the administrative control of the Department of Defence Production of the MoD.

Multiple government-appointed committees in the past suggested corporatizing OFB to include: TKA Nair Committee recommended converting OFB to Ordnance Factory Corporation Limited in 2000; Vijay Kelkar Committee also recommended corporatization of OFB with ‘Navratna’ status, like BSNL in 2006; and finally, Vice Admiral Raman Puri Committee (2015) recommended corporatizing OFB and splitting it into 3-4 segments – each specializing in distinct areas like weapons, ammunition and combat vehicles. The reason for committee after committee coming up with these recommendations have been the inefficiency and poor quality with time delays in delivery of item that has been ordered. However, no government or the MoD paid any heed to any of these recommendations despite the fact that huge resources were expended by these committees to come to these conclusions. So, why did we order these committees, if we were not to take any action on the same?

The CAG, year after year has brought out glaring shortcomings in the efficiency levels of the OFB. In its Report Number 19 of 2016 it brings out “Ordnance Factory Project Korwa was given the sanction (October 2007) by the Government of India, Ministry of Defence for manufacture of 45,000 carbines(which Indian Army needed to the tune of 1.8 lakhs) per annum at an estimated investment of “408 Crore”. This project was brought in by Mr Rahul Gandhi to his constituency. “The time schedule for implementation of the project was initially fixed as October 2010, which, on Congress losing the elections was revised to March 2017. Even after expenditure of 1253 crore, the project had not accrued any benefits to the Board”. Which actually meant that not a single item has been produced since then.

The story of Ordnance Parachute Factory Kanpur (OPF) Kanpur is even worst. OPF manufactures various parachutes for the Armed Forces. Users’ requirement of parachutes is of significant importance because of their strategic use in dropping fully kitted soldiers, supply drop, emergency escape of pilots from aircraft etc. In the audit conducted at OPFand OFB for 2012-13 to 2016-17 on production of 11 selected parachutes for the Army and Air Force to ascertain whether OFB supplied quality parachutes to the users in time and as per their requirements, glaring shortcomings were reported. “There were deficiencies in production planning like delays in holding target fixation meetings, non-identification of item-wise production capacity and production constraints/capacity shortage not highlighted in the meetings for fixing realistic targets. The targets were routinely revised downwards due to OPF’s inability to meet the target because of non-availability of quality metal components/fabrics etc. Out of 49 instances analysed, OPF achieved production targets only in five instances during 2012-13 to 2016-17”.

As a result, there were significant outstanding orders for nine parachute items as of March/April 2017. The users’ also had deficiencies of seven parachute items to the extent of 33 to 100 per cent. Bulk production of two types of Heavy Drop (HD) parachutes, developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in 2000 and 2009 for Army and Navy could not be commenced due to delayed supply of pilot lot by OPF for validation trial.

Army’s requirement of Combat Free Fall(CFF) parachute, developed by DRDO in 2006, was not fulfilled due to life threatening defects observed by Army in validation trials and non-resolving of the quality problems by OPF. As the CFF Parachute directly impacts the operational efficiency of the Special Forces, Indian Army, after waiting for 19 long years, had to take the harsh decision of foreclosing this project and go in for purchase of a limited number from Foreign OEM’s. Because the OPF/OFB continue to claim that they shall make it, even expertise of Indian vendors who have manufactured parachutes for Chandrayan and landing capsules have not been allowed to be exploited.

The story of Army’s Combat uniforms, which the Indian Army proposed to procure privately at one third the cost and of better quality, with a saving of Rs 157.5 Cr annually having been turned down was covered well by media. The high cost of items is due to the overheads cost as brought out by CAG, “The Cost of Overheads accounted for 36 per cent of the cost of production. The high overheads are a consequence of high committed cost on a workforce that is not directly deployed for production”. Consequently, not only that the services have suffered, but indigenisation itself has taken a huge step backwards.

Similar is the case with many other projects, as mentioned earlier in rims of paper and voluminous CAG Reports. Particularly on quality, the Report points out that, “No documented comprehensive quality policy has been laid down by the Ministry. Instead, piecemeal orders/instructions are issued by the Ministry and OFB. In the absence of an overarching quality policy, the existing quality structure lacks coherence and does not establish synergy needed for optimum distribution of responsibility and authority among the stakeholders in Defence Production”.It must not have been easy for MHA to taken a decision to go in for purchases of weapons for ITBP, BSF, CRPF, SSB, CISF, NSG and Assam Rifles from private source, for which, as per reports, the first round of discussions has already been completed with the vendors.

For the defence sector, ‘self-reliance’ has remained elusive for seven decades and India remains the second largest arms importer on the global stage. The imports have been resorted to not because Indian Armed Forces want imported equipment. In fact, the services have a genuine concern of the pitfalls of lifecycle support of any imported items also for any future upgrades, since the dependence is on an Original Equipment Manufacturer. Therefore, import dependence and consequent strategic vulnerability have long been an area of concern. Despite continuous efforts, indigenisation has remained a losing battle.

Defence production in major arms manufacturing countries in Europe and USA have come up with state-of-the-art technologies because defence production is wholly privatised. Government-controlled defence production is a success in communist China because rigid work schedule is enforced and production is closely monitored even in private industries. India’s democracy is witness to the worst work culture, slippages, wasteful expenditure and corruption in the government-controlled defence-industry, organizations and structures.

The private industry feels OFB doesn’t fear competing with them because the so-called level playing field isn’t level with OFB being a government organisation. Only some projects come to the private industry. Foreign Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) too prefer to team up with indigenous private industry, e.g., Kalashnikov was keen to team up with Adani Defence and Aerospace to set up the AK-203 assault rifles production in India. As on date even this project is held up at negotiation level between GOI and Indo-Russia Rifles Private Limited (IRRPL), despite the MoU having been signed in March 2019.

On 13 June 2020, Indian media broke the news that the joint IRRPL between the Indian Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) and Russian Rosoboron Export and Kalashnikov company has run into pricing problems. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) was reportedly forced to appoint a costing committee on 11 June,2020 due to the “unreasonable and unacceptable” price quoted by the IRRPL to make 6.71 lakh AK-203 rifles. The five-member costing committee, has been asked to fix a “reasonable price” for manufacturing the basic version of the 7.62×39 mm calibre AK-203 rifle. It seems the Joint Venture first sought repeated extensions to submit its techno-commercial bid and then when it did in February this year, it quoted a price much higher than the benchmark price.

A large number of Design and Development projects, despite having very good designs have turned out to be very bad products. 5.56 mm INSAS is just one of the many stories. Similarly, large numbers of foreign purchases of urgently required weapons and equipment have been scuttled by the OFB at the stage of Acceptance of Necessity(AON) by false claims that it can be manufactured by them. Forces have waited for years for such equipment to be supplied. Consequently, it has not only put the modernisation process back by many years but even optimal equipping has suffered. Hence, in every operational contingency like Uri, Balakot or Galwan, Indian Army has to go for emergency procurements for items as simple as assault rifles and ammunition.

The call taken by the Government on corporatisation to begin with is just a baby step and this must be pressed forward ruthlessly despite the 84,000 plus workers of the OFB having gone in for a nationwide strike against this initiative. This must also happen in the right earnest by revisiting the various committee reports and CAG reports. Indian Armed Forces are crying for self-reliance and Defence Industry is crying for indigenisation. If at all it has to happen, it can happen only now with a strong government and a wave favouring the “Atmamirbharata” call.

This must happen despite the OFB, as the organisation will only find self-serving ways and means at the cost of better equipping of the armed forces. This may warrant a harsh decision of allowing participation of private industry with level playing field even in those core areas where OFB has claimed sole rights since ages but has failed with much loss to the exchequer and the Armed Forces. The decision will have to be political and executed ruthlessly.
https://bharatshakti.in/burden-of-ofb-l ... rces-cost/

In response the good chaps at OFB go completely off the rails, attacking the Lt. Gen and attributing motives!
Although there is almost always two sides to a story, OFB reps need to lay off the Ad Hominem attacks in their counters.
Official rebuttal of the OFB by Shri Gagan Chaturvedi, DDG, PR on behalf of DGOF and Chairman, OFB on the article by Lt Gen JK Sharma (Retd) titled “Burden of OFB: Liability at Armed Forces’ Cost” published on the website of Bharatshakti on the 6th of August
https://twitter.com/OFB_India/status/12 ... 06752?s=20
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Re: OFB, MoD Companies Discussion Thread

Post by nachiket »

MeshaVishwas wrote:
In response the good chaps at OFB go completely off the rails, attacking the Lt. Gen and attributing motives!
Although there is almost always two sides to a story, OFB reps need to lay off the Ad Hominem attacks in their counters.
Or better yet, finally accept at least some responsibility for their litany of failures and the effect it has had on stalling indigenization in defence production and try to do better. But pigs will fly and pakis will give up terrorism before that happens.
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Re: OFB, MoD Companies Discussion Thread

Post by ramana »

Lots of useless whines by retired folks.
The clarion call given by the Prime Minister on 12th May for a “Self Reliant India” amidst the Covid 19 crisis and the announcement by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on 16 May that the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) would be corporatized could be a welcome change. However, since she also mentioned that it did not mean privatization and the corporatized OFB will remain under government control, indirectly implying Ministry of Defence (MoD), leads to inferences that nothing is likely to change.
That presumption is my problem.
Here this gentleman is ready to throw mud at the Pm and the RM resolve to fix the problem.
Rest is a litany of woes just like the three witnesses in Brahmin and the Tiger story.

Meantime MoD is preparing to corporatize OFB.
Basically all the new labor laws will apply to them also.
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Re: OFB, MoD Companies Discussion Thread

Post by wig »

https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/m ... 2020-09-29
Money burnt on faulty ammo could have bought us 100 new Howitzers, fumes Army
The Indian Army, in an internal report to the MoD, has said funds spent on faulty ammunition between 2014 and 2020 could have been used to buy 100 155-mm medium artillery guns.
extracts
calculating the loss to the exchequer due to poor quality OFB ammunition to be Rs 960 crore between 2014 and 2020, the Army notes, “Rs 960 crore roughly means 100 155-mm medium artillery guns could have been bought for this amount."

The OFB, administered by the MoD's Department of Defence Production, is one of the world's oldest government-controlled production organisations, and oversees a nationwide network of factories that manufactures ammunition and weaponry for the Indian armed forces.

The ammunition being criticised in the new Army report includes 23-mm air defence shells, artillery shells, 125-mm tank rounds and different calibres of bullets used in infantry assault rifles.

casualities
There have been 403 accidents related to faulty ammunition since 2014, though the numbers of accidents have steadily reduced. From 114 accidents in 2014, the number reduced to 53 by 2017, rose again to 78 in 2018, and dipped once again to just 16 in 2019. But the human casualty figures are far more disturbing.

Listed under the heading 'Casualties due to OFB manufactured ammunition and armament', the report notes 27 troops and others have been killed in faulty ammunition accidents since 2014, with 159 being seriously injured, including permanent disabilities and loss of limbs.
amitdb
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Re: OFB, MoD Companies Discussion Thread

Post by amitdb »

Few good things have happened as a result of chincom tzu-tiyapanti in ladakh. And this GOI's standing up to OFB seems to be one such thing.

https://tfipost.com/2020/10/as-private- ... sidelined/
In the latest effort to sideline inefficient Ordnance Factories and promote private players in defence manufacturing, the government has placed the order for 10 lakh hand grenades with private companies. The contract to supply 10 lakh hand grenades over the next two years has been awarded to Nagpur based Economic Explosives Limited (EEL).

The company would supply multi-mode hand grenades (MMHG), a make-over from World War II time designed hand grenades that the Indian army was using so far. The 400 crore contract has not been awarded to Ordnance factory, the traditional supplier of small arms and ammunition to Indian armed forces. These grenades have been designed at the Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory of the DRDO, but, the contract for manufacturing was awarded to a private company, given the Himalayan inefficiencies of OFB, the public sector supplier.

Indian Army, in its internal assessment, has found that poor quality defence equipment supplied by Ordnance Factories Board (OFB), has led to 27 deaths and loss of 960 crore rupees to the government since 2014. OFB, a government-owned production unit, is known for its inefficiency and ‘Communist’ work culture. Its inefficient equipment has led to the loss of soldiers as well as money to Indian armed forces.

Headquartered in Kolkata, OFB is said to be among the oldest and most inefficient organizations in the world. A white elephant of the Nehruvian economy, it employs more than 80,000 people in 41 ordnance factories, 13 ordnance R&D centres, and nine ordnance institutes of learning. A few months ago the government decided to corporatize the OFB to make the institution more efficient, but, the employees of Ordnance Factories have called for an indefinite strike from October 12 against the decision.

However, amid the typical Communist nature protest threat from the lethargic OFB employees, the government has already started to sideline the inefficient institution and, is prioritizing the private players to Public-Private Partnership (PPP). “The MMHG case showcases how private-public partnership can deliver results very successfully for the vital defence sector in just a few years. It is for the first time in India that a privately owned company would be getting to supply an order for complete ammunition,” a senior EEL executive said.
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