Ordnance Factory Board

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 (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.[22]

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,[23] first modern electric textile mill of India, first chemical industries such as smokeless propellant plants of India,[24] established the first engineering colleges of India as its training schools,[25] played key role in the founding of research and industrial organisations like ISRO, DRDO, BDL, BEL, BEML, SAIL, etc.[23]

• 1712 – Establishment of the Dutch Ostend Company's Gun Powder Factory at Ichhapur.[1]
• 1775 – Establishment of the Board of Ordnance at Fort William, Kolkata.
• 1787 – Establishment of the Gun Powder Factory at Ishapore.
• 1791 – Production of Gun Powder begins at Ishapore.
• 1801 – Establishment of Gun Carriage Agency at Cossipore, Kolkata.
• 1802 – Production begins at Cossipore on 18 March.
• 1935 – Indian Ordnance Service was introduced to administer the whole Defence Production Industry of India.
• 1954 – Indian Ordnance Service (IOS) renamed to Indian Ordnance Factories Service (IOFS).
• 1979 – Ordnance Factory Board is established on 2 April.

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.[26]

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.[27]

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. [28]

OFB's office at Esplanade, Kolkata [29][30][31]

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

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 five 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 who is in the rank of Special Secretary to Government of India. The four remaining members are responsible for staff functions, viz personnel (Per), finance (Fin), planning & material management (P&MM), and technical services (TS), and they operate from Kolkata.

Each ordnance factory is headed by a general manager who is in the rank of Additional Secretary to the Government of India.

• 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 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 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.

Civilians are required to hold an 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:

• 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

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

The prime customers of Indian Ordnance Factories are the Indian Armed Forces viz. Indian Army, Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force.[34][35] 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.[8][36]

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.[37][38][39][40] Public Sector Undertakings in India (PSUs) such as HMT Limited, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, Bharat Dynamics Limited,[41] 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.[42]

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, United Kingdom
• Middle East: Oman, Egypt, Israel, Saudi Arabia, UAE
• Africa: Kenya, Botswana, Nigeria
• North and South America: United States, Canada, Brazil, Chile, Suriname[42][43][44][45]