Ordnance Factories Board

Ordnance Factories Board

Native name	आयुध निर्माणी बोर्ड
Type	Government Organisation
Industry	Defence
Founded	1775[1]
Headquarters	Ayudh Bhawan, Kolkata
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	S. C. Bajpai, IOFS (Director General Ordnance Factories & Chairman, OFB)
Products	Small arms, Aircraft weapons, Anti-aircraft warfare, Naval weapons, Anti-ship warfare, Anti-submarine warfare, Anti-tank warfare, Missiles, Missile launchers, Rockets, Rocket launchers, Bombs, Grenades, Mortars, Mines, Military vehicles, Engines, Armoured vehicles, Chemical warfare, Clothing, Artillery, Ammunition, Propellants, Explosives.
Revenue	$3 billion (₹19982.71 crores) (2015-'16)[2][3][4]
Number of employees	~164,000[5]
Website	ofb.gov.in

Ordnance Factories Board (OFB) (Hindi: आयुध निर्माणी बोर्ड; IAST: Āyudh nirmāṇī borḍ) consisting of the Indian Ordnance Factories (भारतीय आयुध निर्माणियाँ; Bhāratīya āyudh nirmāṇiyān), is an industrial organisation, functioning under the Department of Defence Production of Ministry of Defence, Government of India. It is engaged in research, development, production, testing, marketing and logistics of a comprehensive product range in the areas of air, land and sea systems. OFB comprises forty-one Ordnance Factories, nine Training Institutes, three Regional Marketing Centres and four Regional Controllerates of Safety, which are spread all across the country.^[6][7]

OFB is the world's largest government-operated production organisation,^[8] and the oldest organisation run by the Government of India.^[9][10] It has a total workforce of about 164,000.^[5] It is often called the "Fourth Arm of Defence",^[11][12][13] and the "Force Behind the Armed Forces" of India.^[14][15] It is amongst the top 50 defence equipment manufacturers in the world.^[3][16] Its total sales were at $3 billion (₹19982.71 crores) in 2015-'16.^[2] Every year, 18 March is celebrated as the Ordnance Factories' Day in India.^[17][18]

History

Beginning

The history and development of the Indian Ordnance Factories is directly linked with the British reign in India. The East India Company considered military hardware to be a vital element for securing their economic interest in India and increasing their political power. In 1775, the British East India company accepted the establishment of the Board of Ordnance at Fort William, Calcutta. This marks the official beginning of the Army Ordnance in India.

In 1787, a gunpowder factory was established at Ichapore; it began production in 1791, and the site was later used as a rifle factory, beginning in 1904. In 1801, Gun Carriage Agency (now known as Gun & Shell Factory, Cossipore) was established at Cossipore, Calcutta, and production began on 18 March 1802. This is the oldest ordnance factory in India still in existence.^[19]

Growth

The growth of the Ordnance Factories Board leading to its present setup has been continuous but sporadic. There were eighteen ordnance factories before India became independent in 1947 and twenty-three factories have been established after independence, mostly in the wake of defence preparedness imperatives brought about by the wars involving India.

Main Events

• 1801 – Establishment of Gun Carriage Agency at Cossipore, Kolkata.
• 1802 – Production begins at Cossipore on 18 March.
• 1906 – The Administration of Indian Ordnance Factories comes under a separate charge as "IG of Ordnance Factories".
• 1933 – Charged to "Director of Ordnance Factories".
• 1948 – Placed under direct control of Ministry of Defence.
• 1962 – Department of Defence Production was set up at Ministry of Defence.
• 1979 – Ordnance Factories Board is established on 2 April.

Infrastructure and leadership

Headquarters

• Armoured Vehicles Headquarters, Chennai (AVHQ)
• Ordnance Equipment Factories Headquarters, Kanpur (OEFHQ)
• Ordnance Factory Cell, New Delhi (OFBDEL)
• Ordnance Factory Cell, Mumbai (OFBMUM)
• Ordnance Factories Recruitment Board, Nagpur (OFRB)
• Ordnance Factory Board, Kolkata (OFBHQ)

Apex Board

The Apex Board is headed by the Director General of Ordnance Factories (DGOF), who acts as the Chairman of the Board (ex officio Secretary to Government of India) and consists of nine other Members, who each hold the rank of Additional DGOF. Ordnance Factories are divided into 5 operating divisions, depending upon the type of the main products/technologies employed. These are :

• Ammunition and Explosives (A&E)
• Weapons, Vehicles & Equipment (WV&E)
• Materials and Components (M&C)
• Armoured Vehicles (AV)
• Ordnance Equipment Group of Factories (OEF)

Each of the above group of factories is headed by a Member/Additional DGOF. The four remaining Members are responsible for staff functions, viz Personnel (Per), Finance (Fin), Planning & Material Management (P&MM), Technical Services (TS) and they operate from Kolkata.

Ordnance factories

Each Ordnance Factory is headed by a General Manager who is in the rank of Additional Secretary to Government of India.

Training Institutes

• National Academy of Defence Production, Nagpur (NADP)
• Ordnance Factories Institute of Learning Ambajhari, Nagpur (OFILAJ)
• Ordnance Factories Institute of Learning Ambernath, Mumbai (OFILAM)
• Ordnance Factories Institute of Learning Avadi, Chennai (OFILAV)
• Ordnance Factories Institute of Learning Dehradun (OFILDD)
• Ordnance Factories Institute of Learning Ishapore, Kolkata (OFILIS)
• Ordnance Factories Institute of Learning Khamaria, Jabalpur (OFILKH)
• Ordnance Factories Institute of Learning, Kanpur (OFILKN)
• Ordnance Factories Institute of Learning, Medak (OFILMK)

Each OFIL is headed by a Principal Director, and NADP by a Senior Principal Director. NADP provides training to Group A officers, whilst the other eight institutes impart training to Group B and Group C employees of the ordnance factories.

Regional Marketing Centres

• Regional Marketing Centre, Avadi, Chennai (RMCAV)
• Regional Marketing Centre, Delhi (RMCDL)
• Regional Marketing Centre, Pune (RMCPU)

Each Regional Marketing Centre is headed by a Regional Director.

Regional Controllerates of Safety

• Regional Controllerate of Safety Ambajhari, Nagpur (RCSAJ)
• Regional Controllerate of Safety Avadi, Chennai (RCSAV)
• Regional Controllerate of Safety, Kanpur (RCSKN)
• Regional Controllerate of Safety, Pune (RCSPU)

Each Regional Controllerate of Safety is headed by a Regional Controller of Safety.

Indian Ordnance Factories Service (IOFS)

The Indian Ordnance Factories Service (IOFS) (Hindi: भारतीय आयुध निर्माणी सेवा) is a civil service of the Government of India. IOFS officers are Gazetted (Group A) defence-civilian officers under the Ministry of Defence. IOFS is a multi-disciplinary composite cadre consisting of technical – engineers (Civil, Electrical, Mechanical, Electronics), technologists (Chemical, Metallurgical, Textile, Leather) and non-technical/administrative (Science, Law, Commerce, Management and Arts graduates). Technical posts comprise about 87% of the total cadre. The doctors (Surgeons and Physicians) serving in OFB belong to a separate service known as the Indian Ordnance Factories Health Service (IOFHS). IOFHS officers are responsible for the maintenance of health of the employees, and the hospitals of OFB. They report directly to the IOFS officers. IOFS and IOFHS are the only two civil services under the Department of Defence Production.^[20]

Recruitment

The recruitment in the Indian Ordnance Factories as a Group A officer is done by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) based on the performance in the rigorous and prestigious Engineering Services Examination (ESE) and the Civil Services Examination (CSE).^[21] Engineering posts are filled through the Engineering Services Examination, while technologists are selected through interviews by UPSC. Posts in the non technical streams are filled through the Civil Services Examination. IOFS is the only cadre in which candidates are selected by all four means – CSE, ESE, interviews and promotions. IOFHS officers are selected through the Combined Medical Services Examination, conducted by UPSC.^[22][23][24] All appointments to the Group A Civil Services are made by the President of India.^[25]

Hierarchy (Group A)

Grade	Designation in the field	Designation in Headquarters	Pay Scale
Junior Time Scale	Assistant Works Manager	Assistant Director	₹15,600-₹39,100 plus grade pay of ₹5400
Senior Time Scale	Works Manager	Deputy Director	₹15,600-₹39,100 plus grade pay of ₹6600
Senior Time Scale (Non Functional)	Deputy General Manager	Joint Director	₹15,600-₹39,100 plus grade pay of ₹7600
Junior Administrative Grade (Functional)	Joint General Manager	Director	₹37,400-₹67,000 plus grade pay of ₹8700
Senior Administrative Grade	Addl. GM / General Manager / Principal Director / Regional Director / Regional Controller of Safety	Deputy Director General	₹37,400-₹67,000 plus grade pay of ₹10000
Higher Administrative Grade	Senior General Manager / Senior Principal Director	Senior Deputy Director General	₹67,000-₹79,000 plus grade pay-Nil
Higher Administrative Grade (+)	Nil	Addl. Director General & Member of the Board	₹75,500-₹80,000 plus grade pay -Nil
Apex Scale	Nil	Director General Ordnance Factories (DGOF) & Chairman of the Ordnance Factories Board	₹80,000 (fixed) plus grade pay-Nil[26]

Products

The type of ordnance material produced is very diverse, ranging from various small arms to missiles, rockets, bombs, grenades, military vehicles, armoured vehicles, chemicals, optical devices, parachutes, mortars, artillery pieces plus all associated ammunition, propellants, explosives and fuzes.^[27]

Products available to civilians

Civilians are required to hold Arms License (issued only for non-prohibited bore category weapons) in order to buy firearms in India. The following products of the Indian Ordnance Factories Board are available for civilians:

Arms

• IOF .22 revolver
• IOF .32 revolver (7.65 mm X 23)
• IOF .32 revolver Nirbheek
• IOF .32 Pistol Ashani
• IOF .22 Sporting Rifle
• IOF .315 Sporting Rifle
• IOF .30-06 Sporting Rifle

Ammunition

• Cartridge Rimfire .22" Ball
• Cartridge SA .32" Revolver
• Cartridge SA .315" and 30 06 Ball
• Cartridge SA 12 Bore 70mm
• Cartridge SA 12 Bore 65mm Special

Products not available to civilians

These products are exclusively manufactured for use by the armed forces and are not sold to the civilians.

Small arms
Pistol Auto 9mm 1A, manufactured by RFI  Multi Caliber Individual Weapon System (MCIWS)  84mm Shoulder-fired Rocket Launcher / Recoilless Gun  SAF Carbine 1A1  AGS-30 Automatic Grenade Launcher  Rocket Propelled Grenade Launcher

Ammunition

Towed & Rocket Artillery
Pinaka rockets manufactured by OFAJ  155mm artillery gun in L39, L45 and L52 caliber configurations  Smerch rockets to be produced at OFAJ and launcher at VFJ

Self-Propelled Artillery

General Staff and Logistics Vehicles

Specialist role Vehicles

Armoured Vehicles and Engines
Arjun Mark-II  Bhishma of the Indian Army built at HVF Avadi  Ajeya of the Indian Army built by HVF  Arjun MBT Mark-I, manufactured by HVF Avadi  Bhishma's engine at Engine Factory Avadi

Missile Launchers

Aerial Weapons
IAF Hind Akbar's rockets, bombs and armaments  IAF Su-30MKI's rockets, bombs, missiles, armaments and parachutes  Indian Army's Dhruv's anti-tank, air-to-air and anti-ship missiles, rockets and torpedoes

Naval Weapons
AK-230 anti-aircraft gun  RBU 6000 anti-submarine rocket launcher and its depth charges such as RGB-12 and RGB-60

Customers

Armed Forces

The prime customers of Indian Ordnance Factories are the Indian Armed Forces viz. Indian Army, Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force.^[28][29] Apart from supplying armaments to the Armed Forces, Ordnance Factories also meet the requirements of other customers viz. the Central Armed Police Forces, State Armed Police Forces, Paramilitary Forces of India and the Special Forces of India in respect of arms, ammunition, clothing, bullet proof vehicles, mine protected vehicles etc.^[30][31]

Civil trade

Customers are in the civil sector, central/state government organisations and departments such as Indian Railways, Indian Space Research Organisation, Defence Research and Development Organisation, Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre, Aeronautical Development Agency, Department of Telecommunications, and State Electricity Boards.^{[32][33][34][35]} Public Sector Undertakings in India (PSUs) such as HMT Limited, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, Bharat Dynamics Limited,^[36] private companies and individuals etc. who purchase industrial chemicals, explosives, arms, ammunition, brass ingots, aluminium alloy products for aircraft, steel castings and forgings, vehicles, clothing and leather goods, cables and opto-electronic instruments.^[37]

Exports

Arms and ammunition, weapon spares, chemicals and explosives, parachutes, leather and clothing items are exported to more than 30 countries worldwide.

• Asia: Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Vietnam, Nepal, Singapore
• Europe: Germany, Belgium, Cyprus, Greece, Turkey, Russia, Sweden, France, Switzerland, UK
• Middle East: Oman, Egypt, Israel, Saudi Arabia, UAE
• Africa: Kenya, Botswana, Nigeria
• North and Latin America: United States, Canada, Brazil, Chile, Suriname^{[37][38][39][40]}

Criticism

In spite of highly skilled manpower, latest technologies and huge investments, the Ordnance Factories and their management have often been criticised for their inefficiency,^[41] delay in supplies,^[42][43][44] obsolete and substandard products of much higher costs than those manufactured by their foreign competitors,^[45] corruption at all levels including top management^{[46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54]} and a small volume of exports. The ministerial and bureaucratic hassles, lack of decision making and accountability of the people concerned are often blamed.

To counter the above, talks were held to privatise the Ordnance Factories^[55][56] after witnessing the turnaround of other Indian companies that were converted into PSUs. The Ministry of Defence has always ruled out such a possibility^[57][58] since the Ordnance Factories are the backbone of the Indian Armed Forces^[59][60] and should be controlled solely by the Government of India.

Efforts are being made by the Ordnance Factories to run them at their full capacities, employ and train skilled manpower, efficient usage of the available resources, update and induct new products, provide more sophisticated products, increase and diversify product categories, supply them to the forces on time, stringent quality assurance, JV with foreign and other domestic manufacturers and to increase their overseas presence and exports.^{[18][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70][71]}

People

Dating back to more than two centuries and being a manpower extensive, multi-location organisation spread across India, huge number of people from all parts of the country have been associated with the Indian Ordnance Factories. Some families have a history of up to five generations serving the organisation. Few of the people associated with OFB over the centuries:

Employees

Officers

• Narinder Singh Kapany – Former IOFS officer, FREng, "Father of Fibre Optics", also known as "The Man who Bent Light",^[72] invented fibre optics that revolutionalised telecommunication, power transmission, laparoscopic and endoscopic surgery etc. Named as one of the seven "Unsung Heroes of the 20th century" by Fortune magazine for his Nobel Prize deserving invention.^[73] Former Professor at Stanford, Universities of California at Berkeley, Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz. Has more than 150 patents to his credit.^[72]
• Nalini Ranjan Mohanty – Former IOFS officer. Secured All India 2nd Rank in the Engineering Services Examination of 1965, served as the Chairman & Managing Director of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Director of Kudremukh Iron Ore Company, Mahanadi Coalfields, National Aluminium Company (NALCO), Bharat Earth Movers (BEML). Awarded Padma Shri in 2004 by the Government of India for his role in the development of LCA – Tejas.
• H. P. S. Ahluwalia – Former IOFS officer, FRGS. Author, Mountaineer, Social Worker. He is the first Indian to climb Mount Everest.^[74][75] Founder & Chairman of Indian Spinal Injuries Centre. Awarded Arjuna Award, Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan by the Government of India. Also served as a Commissioned officer in the Indian Army and Member of Planning Commission (India).
• K. C. Banerjee – Joined as an IOFS officer. Awarded Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian honour by the Government of India, presented by the President of India in 1967, for his contributions during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 as the General Manager of Rifle Factory Ishapore.^[76]
• O. P. Bahl – Served as an IOFS officer. Former Additional Director General Ordnance Factories & Member, Ordnance Factory Board. Awarded Padma Shri in 1972 by the Government of India in the Civil Service category for his efforts during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.^[77]

Others

• Brijmohan Lall Munjal – Worked in the Indian Ordnance Factories, founded Hero Cycles, world's largest cycle manufacturer and Hero MotoCorp, the world's largest two-wheeler manufacturer. Self-made billionaire, was among the 30 richest Indians in the world until his death in November 2015. Awarded Padma Bhushan by the Government of India.
• Maharishi Mahesh Yogi - Founder of the Transcendental Meditation technique and Global Country of World Peace. Worked at Gun Carriage Factory at Jabalpur.^[78][79]
• Narendranath Mitra – Renowned Bengali writer, poet and journalist. His literary work has been adapted into films by the likes of Satyajit Ray and Amitabh Bachchan.
• Samaresh Basu – Bengali writer. Awarded Sahitya Akademi Award and Filmfare Award. His notable works which were adapted into films include Shaukeen by Basu Chatterjee and Namkeen by Gulzar.
• S.M. Banerjee – Member of 2nd, 3rd and 4th Parliament (Lok Sabha).

Associates

• Palle Rama Rao – Instrumental in setting up of Heavy Alloy Penetrator Project for making tungsten-based alloys. Also served as Secretary, Department of Science and Technology (India) and Chairman, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board. Awarded Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan by the Govt. of India.
• V. N. Krishnamurthy – Contributed in setting up double-base propellants plant at Ordnance Factory Itarsi.

Family

• Suresh Raina – Played as Captain of the Indian Cricket Team. His father worked at Ordnance Factory Muradnagar near Delhi.
• Dhanraj Pillay – Former Captain of the Indian Hockey Team. Awarded Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and Padma Shri by the Government of India. His father worked at Ammunition Factory Khadki in Pune.
• Kay Kay Menon – Indian film, television and theatre actor. His father worked in Ordnance Factory Ambarnath, Mumbai.

References