Ordnance Factory Day is observed across India on 18 March to commemorate the foundation of the first ordnance factory at Cossipore near Kolkata in the year 1801. The erstwhile ordnance factories, which operated under the Ministry of Defence (MoD), were responsible for supplying arms, ammunition and clothing to the country's armed forces.
The Indian Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), which comprised 41 institutions, ceased to exist from 1 October last year. The OFB was split into seven public sector undertakings (PSUs), which continue to supply the country's armed forces with a variety of military equipment.
History
Ordnance factories in India date back to the colonial era. To increase their economic interest and political hold in the country, the East India Company established a Board of Ordnance in Fort William, Kolkata in 1775. This marked the official start of the army ordnance in the country, according to the official website of the OFB.
To increase production of military equipment, the British later established a gun powder factory in Ishapore in the year 1787. They also set up a Gun Carriage Agency in Cossipore in 1801. This marked the beginning of India's first industrial ordnance factories.
The growth of these production units continued, with 18 ordnance factories present in India in 1947. After Independence, 21 more factories were established.
However, the Union government decided to corporatise the OFB and convert it into seven separate PSUs to reform the defence production sector in the country. The government also established the Directorate of Ordnance (Coordination & Services) under the department of defence production to pursue the same objectives.
The government has 100 per cent stake in all the seven PSUs.
Celebrations
Earlier, Ordnance Factory Day was celebrated to honour the OFBs' contribution to the country's defence sector. The national anthem was sung and the national flag was hoisted in ordnance factories across India. The day was also marked by exhibiting weaponry such as guns, rifles, artillery, ammunition and so on.
This year, unions from the erstwhile OFB have written to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to continue the celebrations in order to honour the board's contribution to the defence sector, according to a Times of India report.
Significance
The OFB was responsible for producing a variety of military equipment including small arms, explosives and propellants, ammunition and so on. The seven PSUs — Munitions India Limited (MIL), Armoured Vehicles Nigam Limited (AVNL), Troop Comforts Limited (TCL), Yantra India Limited (YIL), Gliders India Limited (GIL), Advanced Weapons and Equipment India Limited (AWEIL) and India Optel Limited (IOL) — have currently absorbed the functions of the previous 41 ordnance factories.
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