Corporatization of ordnance factory board(OFB)

 

The OFB is a defense ministry entity and supplies critical arms and ammunition to the 3 armed forces and the paramilitary.. As a part of the Atmanirbhar Bharat Package, the central government had announced said that it will improve autonomy, accountability and efficiency in ordnance supplies by corporatization of the OFB. The parliamentary committee said in its report that with the view of the defense ministry on the issue of OFB's corporatization and said that with necessitated structural improvements, OFB will be able to further improve quality of products and expand their services. In may 2019, the Indian Army had sought immediate intervention of the defense ministry to check rising cases of accidents involving battle tanks, artillery and air defense guns due to "poor quality" of ammunition being supplied to it by the OFB. The Army had then presented a report to the ministry listing incidents of accidents involving main guns of T-72 and T-90 and the Arjun main battle tanks, besides 105 mm field guns, 130 mm MA1 medium guns and 40 mm L-70 air defense guns, primarily due to faulty ammunition. In what many consider to be a long-overdue reform, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced May 16 the corporatization of the Ordnance Factory Board, or OFB, that manages 41-odd ordnance factories located across the country. This change is expected to double OFB’s turnover to approximately $4 billion by 2025 and, in the process, address concerns about the quality of its products.