OFB dissolved into 7 companies
An estimated 80,000 employees have been transferred to the new companies

India’s government-owned Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) has been dissolved into seven successor companies effective Friday, after 234 years of continuous existence.

The defence ministry issued orders last week for the execution of the decision of the Union Cabinet on June 16th this year, to corporatise the 41 production units of the OFB, effective October 01st.

The defence ministry has also appointed E.R. Sheikh as the first Director General of the Ordnance Directorate (Co-ordination and Services), the ‘successor organisation of Ordnance Factory Board (OFB)’, according to a statement. Sheikh is a 1984-batch Indian Ordnance Factory Service (IOFS) officer and a graduate of IIT Kanpur. Notably, ‘he led the successful indigenous development of Bi-Modular Charge System (BMCS) for artillery ammunition, according to a defence ministry statement’.

The 41 production units and additional non-production units of OFB have been transferred to the seven successor companies, to be known as ‘New DPSUs’, wholly owned by the Government of India.

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1. Munitions India Limited: Munitions India Limited will undertake the business of manufacturing ammunition and explosives with its registered and corporate office at Ammunition Factory Khadki, Pune, Maharashtra, India, 411003.

2. Armoured Vehicles Nigam Limited: Armoured Vehicles Nigam Limited will manufacture vehicles with its registered and corporate office at HVF Road, Bhaktavatsalapuram, Avadi, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, 600054.

3. Advanced Weapons and Equipment India Limited: Advanced Weapons and Equipment India Limited will manufacture weapons and equipment with its registered and corporate office at Ordnance Factory Kanpur, Kalpi Road, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India, 208009.

4. Troop Comforts Limited: Troop Comforts Limited will manufacture clothing and other personal equipment with its registered and corporate office at Ordnance Factory Equipment, Headquarter G T Road, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India, 208013.

5. Yantra India Limited: Yantra India Limited will manufacture military grade components and ancillary products with its registered and corporate office at Ordnance Factory, Ambajhari Amravati Road Ambajhari, Nagpur, Maharashtra, India, 440021.

6. India Optel Limited: India Optel Limited will manufacture opto-electronic items with its registered and corporate office at Opto Electronic Factory, Raipur, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India, 248008.

7. Gliders India Limited: Gliders India Limited will manufacture parachutes with its registered and corporate office at Ordnance Factory Equipment Headquarter, G T Road, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India, 208005.

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Certain non-production units of OFB and surplus land at 16 of the OFB production units have been transferred to the control of the new Directorate of Ordnance (Coordination & Services).

All the estimated 80,000 Group A, B and C employees of OFB have been transferred en masse the New DPSUs on terms of foreign service for a period of two years, during which the New DPSUs will frame rules and regulations on the service conditions of these employees with options for permanent absorption without detriment to their existing service conditions.

All Group A, B and C employees at OFB HQ at Kolkata, OFB New Delhi, OF Schools and OF Hospitals have been transferred en masse to the new Directorate of Ordnance (Coordination & Services).

Pensions of retirees and existing employees will continue to be paid from the defence ministry budget for Defence Pensions.