Ordnance Factory Board


Ordnance Factory Board consisting of the Indian Ordnance Factories, it is an important department under the Ministry of Defence, Government of India, 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. Every year, 18 March is celebrated as the Ordnance Factory Day in India.
OFB is the world's largest government-operated production organisation, and the oldest organisation run by the Government of India. It has a total workforce of about 80,000. It is often called the "Fourth Arm of Defence", and the "Force Behind the Armed Forces" of India.
OFB is the 37th largest defence equipment manufacturer in the world, 2nd largest in Asia, and the largest in India. According to a report by SIPRI, India is the largest producer in the category of 'emerging producers' in 2017, with four companies ranked in the Top 100. Their combined arms sales of $7.5 billion in 2017 were 6.1 percent higher than in 2016. The two largest Indian arms producers, Indian Ordnance Factories and Hindustan Aeronautics are the highest ranking companies in 2017 among countries in the emerging producers’ category. The report also says that the arm sales of OFB have increased by 8.5% in the year of 2017–18. OFB's arms sales are 96% of its total sales in the year of 2017. Its total sales were at $2 billion in the year 2017–'18.

History

Origins

Ordnance Factory Board predates all the other organisations like the Indian Army and the Indian Railways by over a century. The first Indian ordnance factory can trace its origins back to the year 1712 when the Dutch Ostend Company established a Gun Powder Factory in Ichhapur. In 1787, another 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 was established at Cossipore, Calcutta, and production began on 18 March 1802. This is the oldest ordnance factory in India still in existence.

Contributions

The Indian Ordnance Factories have not only supported India through the wars, but played an important role in building India with the advancement of technology and have ushered the Industrial Revolution in India starting with the first modern steel plant of India much before Tata Steel, first modern electric textile mill of India, first chemical industries such as smokeless propellant plants of India, established the first engineering colleges of India as its training schools, played key role in the founding of research and industrial organisations like ISRO, DRDO, BDL, BEL, BEML, SAIL, etc.

Timeline

In May 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government announced that it will corporatize Ordnance Factory Board units. As part of Prime Minister's Self Reliant India Atma Nirbhar Bharat scheme, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on May 16, 2020 announced the decision to corporatize the OFB units.
However, the move has not gone down well with more than 80,000 strong work force of OFB Units who have threatened an indefinite strike against the move.
A strike in the Ordnance Factory Board will be seen as a big setback for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's big push to make India a defence powerhouse in next few years. Alarmed by the possibility of strike in OFB units, the ministry of defence formed a high level official committee, comprising officials from the department of defence production and Indian Army, to address the concerns of defence employees unions and OFB officers' association.

Infrastructure and leadership

Headquarters

The Apex Board is headed by the director general of ordnance factories, who acts as the chairman of the board and consists of nine other members, who each hold the rank of Additional DGOF. Ordnance factories are divided into five operating divisions, depending upon the type of the main products/technologies employed. These are:
Each of the above group of factories is headed by a member/Additional DGOF who is in the rank of Special Secretary to Government of India. The four remaining members are responsible for staff functions, viz personnel, finance, planning & material management, and technical services, 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 the Government of India.

Training institutes

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

Each regional marketing centre is headed by a regional director.

Regional controllerates of safety

Each regional controllerate of safety is headed by a regional controller of safety.

Indian Ordnance Factories Service (IOFS)

The Indian Ordnance Factories Service is a civil service of the Government of India. IOFS officers are Gazetted defence-civilian officers under the Ministry of Defence.
IOFS is a multi-disciplinary composite cadre consisting of technical – engineers, technologists and non-technical/administrative. Technical posts comprise about 87% of the total cadre. The doctors serving in OFB belong to a separate service known as the Indian Ordnance Factories Health Service. 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.

Products

The type of ordnance material produced is very diverse, including 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 fuses.

Civilian products

Civilians are required to hold an Arms License in order to buy firearms in India. The following products of the Indian Ordnance Factories Board are available for civilians:

Arms

Armed Forces

The prime customers of Indian Ordnance Factories are the Indian Armed Forces viz. Indian Army, Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force. 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.

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, Nuclear Fuel Complex, Aeronautical Development Agency, Department of Atomic Energy, Department of Telecommunications, and State Electricity Boards. Public Sector Undertakings in India such as HMT Limited, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, Bharat Dynamics Limited, 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.

Exports

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