OFB, MoD Companies: News & Discussion

[Luit]

Let's see if there is any improvement and they actually transform and begin to establish as a reliable and credible part of the defence supply chain

I think the author was commander of 102 brigade during the Kargil War. His brigade lost Point 5770 which had to be retaken by another brigade .

I think he went from being a Donald Duck back then, to a Golden Goose a few years later - while top notch brigadiers of 70,121 brigade were shafted.

[jaysimha]

OFB Corporatisation Complete: The Road Ahead
Premiered Oct 21, 2021

Government had decided to convert OFB from a Government Department into seven 100 per cent Government-owned corporate entities as a measure to improve self-reliance in the defence preparedness of the country, says Sanjay Jaju, Additional Secretary in the Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence

[Pratyush]

https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/natio ... 100-347220

Three Indian defence manufacturers have made it to the list of top 100 global companies making arms, planes and other military equipment. The details were released on Monday morning by Swedish think-tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) in its report ‘Top 100 arms-producing and military services companies, 2020’.

[jaysimha]

Defence Exports during last 3 years
Last Updated on 15 March 2022
https://ddpdashboard.gov.in/DefenceExpo ... ce_Exports

[jaysimha]

Defence Ministry identifies 18 projects under various schemes for indigenous production Under the Defence Acquisition Procedure 2020, projects involving design and development of equipment, systems, major platforms or upgrades by the industry can be taken up under Make-I sub.

By: Express News Service | New Delhi |
Updated: March 11, 2022 10:29:58 pm


https://indianexpress.com/article/india ... n-7815862/

The Ministry said on Friday that crucial technologies like
Hypersonic Glide Vehicle,
naval shipborne Unmanned Aerical Systems,
light weight tanks,
127mm naval guns,
127 mm guided projectile,
standoff airborne jammer,
will be some of the technologies that the ministry will get under Make 1, funded mostly by the government.

[ramana]

Wikipedia link on Munitions India Limited:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munitions_India_Limited

[Malayappan]

Transcript of HAL 2022 Results Conference call. Lot of data points. Will also cross post specific sections in the relevant threads.
Results Conference Call

[MeshaVishwas]

HAL lacks marketing strategy- Girish Linganna/FE
FWIW,The author is Defence and Aerospace Anal yst

[ramana]

Khya bokwas.
HAL is a IAF captive customer plant.
It's struggling to fulfill its orders and this guy wants a slick Boeing-type marketing team!

[Neela]

Khay bokwas.
HAL is a IAF captive customer plant.
It's struggling to fulfill its orders and this guy wants a slick Boeing-type marketing team!

Ramana-Sir, can I ask why that is a bad idea?
Intermediaries that work on commission basis is there across all industries. We have had Romanian intermediaries getting free access to South Block with a hexy ladies in tow in the good ol Congress days. .
Do you recall Indian Navy officer in Russia in a compromising position? This is how the industry works.
Also, After Antrix, ISRO saw a sharp rise in foreign launches. Then there is the export target to meet. Not disrespecting HAL marketing teams at all but being a PSU, there will be , I think, regulations and paperwork on how they can engage with customers. If we put out a commission basis and allow pvt entities to sell wares, I dont see anything wrong with it.

[ramana]

HAL primary customer is IAF. Once they fulfill those orders can get other orders.
BTW HAL is in final talks with a couple of countries to get the line going. And the marketing team is the PMO.
There is a structural defect in PSU and OFB-type organizations
OFB earlier was govt dept and hence there is no contract and hence legal consequences
A PSU is a company that gets a contract and has to fulfill those terms.
Marketing etc are jazzy stuff but HAL is not there.

[ramana]

Also, we are not hearing complaints about OFB once it was corporatized into seven sisters!

[Anoop]

https://youtu.be/_L0w3HJd3mo

Market capitalization improvement in DPSU relative to Sensex.

[ramana]

Munitions India Limited, site is quite informative and slick.

[vsunder]

@Ramana: Plus OFBs may start getting competition from right in front of their main gate.

https://newindian.in/adani-defence-to-s ... in-kanpur/

Kanpur has a huge OFB at Armapore, in fact pulling into Kanpur by train from Delhi, you pass behind the boundary wall of the OFB which stretches quite some distance. This Adani plant is coming up almost in the same area. It is part of the UP Defence Corridor that stretches from Aligarh, Kanpur, Lucknow and on to Bundelkhand, Jhansi etc. Adani group ^^^ is the anchor for the Kanpur node. Aligarh most of the manufacturers are Optics and Metamaterials with Defence applications, submarine periscopes, image magnifiers and electro-optical rangefinders etc. Lucknow will focus on software and AI research with Defence applications.

OFB had a Bren gun manufacturing unit in Kanpur 1960s.

[vsunder]

These are the companies that have set up shop in the Aligarh defence node of UP govt.

Advance Fire and Safety – Fire Safety Equipment

Navraj Metal Works – Tungsten Rods

Ancor Research Labs LLP – Drones

P2 Logitech Pvt Ltd –Optical Sights

New Space Research & Technologies Pvt Ltd – UAVs

Crimson Energy Experts Pvt Ltd – Navigational Devices

Tractrix Opto Dynamics LLP – Precision and Optical Instruments

Syndicate Innovations International Ltd – Small arms ammunition

Royal Sales Pvt Ltd – Precision components

Milkor Defence Pvt Ltd – Defence Weapon Manufacturing

In addition Werrywin has tied in with Smith &Wesson and will produce bandooks for pulis and "miltry" in one of the UP Defence nodes. Aligarh is the favored node, as it is close to Dilli, easy access to Jewar international airport by Jan 2025 (see my report in civil aviation thread). Agra is another node, so is Chitrakoot in Bundelkhand which is very backward but now connected to Yamuna Expressway via Bundelkhand Expressway. Kanpur is a node and already has a lot of defence manufacturing since colonial times, has an OFB and HAL. Used to be 1 BRD at independence and then became 4 BRD after AVM Harjinder Singh and Raksha Mantri YB Chavan panga who shifted 1 BRD to Nagpore where it still is. Lucknow is another UP Gov. Defence node.

HAL Kanpur started by manufacturing HS-748 Avros. The first one made was called Subroto after AM Subroto Mukherjee and I climbed inside it as a kid on the assembly line. HS is Hawker Siddeley and Indian wicket keeper FM Engineer used to work for them in Lancashire.

[vsunder]

Adani Ammunition Factory is scheduled to be completed Q3 2024 southeast of Kanpur. PWD department has sent a proposal to widen existing road from factory area to Sarsaul on Kanpur Prayagraj highway to 4 lane. This is a 16km road from the Kanpur Defence Corridor Node where the Adani ammo factory is located. Ammo factory will be near the airport that has been upgraded and commissioned, last month with a big brand new terminal ILS-Cat II facility that permits landing in fog and 8 bays to park aircraft as opposed to 3. New connections to Hyderabad, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Gorakhpur are on the anvil from just Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai currently. Kanpur is a civil enclave inside a HAL facility with 2800m runway. The Defence Corridor complex is in village Sarh. Interestingly Sarh is very close to Bhitargaon (< 5km) which has the only remaining ruins of a Gupta era terracota temple.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhitargaon

The EDFC(Eastern DFC) is also about 12km from the Defence Corridor and most likely there will be a siding. 5 companies have already started setting up units including Genser Aerospace who want to build their light business jet Rajas:

https://www.proquest.com/openview/e32eb ... bl=2028820

[Rakesh]

Ramana-ji, any thoughts?

Will this affect Dhanush or any other OFB product?

70,000 Employees Of Ordnance Factories Fume Against Discriminative Bonus Payment Post Corporatization Of OFBs
https://indianpsu.com/70000-employees-o ... n-of-ofbs/
21 October 2023

[Pratyush]

It will depend upon the action to be taken by the union.

It can be a strike, or a go slow, or lockdown, or sabotage.

Each will have different effects on Dhanush production.

[Rakesh]

https://x.com/manupubby/status/1895351804273270931 ---> Defence Ministry looking at measures for better utilization of defence land. Asks services for suggestions on using land to generate revenue, monetizing assets.

[Rakesh]

HAL's condition in 1941! Still the same story onlee!

https://x.com/vayusena/status/1913398241166508272 ---> Found this document in my archives about the predecessor to HAL, their promises and actual deliveries..A memo from March 1942. No further comments.

[ernest]

important context: it was a private company back then