Ordnance Factories under the OFB into a 100% Government owned public sector unit
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF DEFENCE
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENCE PRODUCTION
RAJYA SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.14
TO BE ANSWERED ON 18th November, 2019
PROPOSAL FOR CORPORATISATION OF ORDNANCE FACTORIES BOARD
14. SHRI M. SHANMUGAM:
Will the Minister of DEFENCE be pleased to state:
(a) whether Government would like to convert the Ordnance Factories into a Commercial Organisation;
(b) whether Government will consider upgrading the Ordnance Factories Board (OFB) on the lines of the Railway Board, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Department of Atomic Energy instead of converting the Ordnance Factories into a Corporation; and
(c) whether it is a fact that the prices of Ordnance Factories Board (OFB) products is lesser than the international market price, if so, on what basis the Ministry vide it’s Press Release dated 14.08.2019, 16.08.2019 and 20.08.2019 has stated that the price of Ordnance Factories Board (OFB) products are high?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF DEFENCE
SHRI SHRIPAD NAIK
(a) and (b): There is a proposal to convert Ordnance Factories under the OFB into a 100% Government owned public sector unit to provide functional and financial autonomy and managerial flexibility so as to enable the organisation to grow at a faster pace and play a greater role in defence preparedness of the country while also adequately safeguarding the interests of the workers.
(c) The Press Releases issued by the Ministry of Defence dated 14.08.2019, 16.08.2019 and 20.08.2019 are annexed as Annexure-I, Annexure-II & Annexure-III respectively which do not make any mention of pricing of Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) products.
Annexure-I, Annexure-II & Annexure-III
Source: https://rajyasabha.nic.in/