DPSUs Must Contribute To Achieve Defence Exports Target: Singh

The corporatisation of the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) was a major reform in the direction of making the country "Aatmanirbhar" by unleashing the true potential of these entities, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has said.

He said this during a review of the workings of the seven defence companies, which have been carved out of the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), at a meeting to mark the completion of one year of carving out. 

He appreciated that these companies are moving smoothly and on the path of progress with complete autonomy, efficiency and accountability while protecting the interests of their employees after corporatising OFB.

He further said, “The erstwhile OFB, with its infrastructure and skilled manpower, was a strategic asset of the country. However, in the last few decades, there were concerns of the Armed Forces regarding high costs, inconsistent quality and delays in the supply of weapons and equipment. Also, the OFB had little accountability to show profits and having age-old procedures, practices, paperwork, and rules & regulations, which had lost relevance.”

As per the Ministry of Defence, a number of Rs 2,953 crore has been released to these companies in the form of equity, during the Financial Years 2021-22 and 2022-23 for modernisation and a further amount of Rs 6,270 crore is planned to be released to these companies up to 2026-27 for capital expenditure. In addition, an amount of Rs 3,750 crore has been released to these companies in the form of an Emergency Authorisation Fund.

In six months, the new Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) have achieved a turnover of more than Rs 8,400 crore. For the Financial year 2022-23, the seven DPSUs have a projected cumulative sales target of approx. Rs 17,000 crore.

The DPSUs have reported more than Rs 6,500 crore of production in the first six months of FY 2022-23.

He stressed on the need to increase India’s market share across the globe and contribute to increasing exports. 

“India is emerging as a global defence manufacturing hub and with the active participation of the private sector, our aim is to bring India among the top countries in the world in the fields of design, production and exports. Today, our defence exports have increased 5-6 times to Rs 13,000 crore as compared to the last 7-8 years,” he added.