Atmanirbhar weapons production plan put on anvil

PM Narendra Modi’s 28 June Mann Ki Baat sets the tone for corporatisation of ordnance factories.

A reform prerequisite for India to become “atmanirbhar” in the field of weapons production has been put on anvil within a week of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Mann ki Baat” of 28 June. The government on 6 July sought bids for the selection of a consultancy service agency, which will assist the Department of Defence Production in the corporatisation of the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB). This was a major reform announced by Finance Minister Nirmala

Sitharaman on the third day of her marathon five-day press interaction in mid-may. She had stated that OFB will be corporatized and envisaged that one or more entities, which will be PSUS listed on the stock exchanges, will be set up, which will be tasked with speeding up the “Make in India” process and be part of the Prime Minister’s “vocal about local” campaign.

In his 28 June broadcast, PM Modi said, “Friends, before Independence, in the realm of the defence sector, our country was ahead of many countries in the world.

There used to be a multitude of ordnance factories. Many countries that lagged behind us then, are ahead of us now. After Independence, we should have made efforts in the defence sector, taking advantage of our prior experience…we did not. But today, in the fields of defence and technology, India is relentlessly endeavouring to advance on those fronts…india is taking strides towards self-reliance”.

India’s 18 ordnance factories provided sinews to the Allied endeavour in the Eastern Sector during the Second