Vijay Mohan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 28

As the Army continues to grapple with “huge” shortage of ammunition because of the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) falling short of meeting its requirements and import of equipment being a long-drawn process, the private sector is being roped in to produce seven types of ammunition to help mitigate the situation.“The OFB itself is falling short of what the requirements are. The ammunition shortage is huge because the capacities are not there. There is a need to diversify beyond what we have,” a representative of the Ministry of Defence is quoted as saying in the latest report of Parliament’s Standing Committee on Defence that was tabled this month.State-run OFB consists of 41 manufacturing units located across the country, which produce a wide range of products including tanks, vehicles, weapons, ammunition, clothes and other war-fighting equipment. Out of these, 11 factories are engaged in producing ammunition and explosives. Last year, the Comptroller and Auditor General revealed that there was a shortage for 125 of the 170 types of ammunition used by the Army and even the war wastage reserve, required to maintain supplies for at least a 40-day war, had fallen to a 20-day supply.Expressing concern over the situation, the Defence Secretary also stated before the committee that “we have to depend on the OFB or import the materials”. “Import also takes its own time. The OFB is not able to fulfil the targets that are given to them. The only other option is to find a good alternative source of production in the country,” he said.“For key ammunitions, sometimes we need technology. So, technology issues are also involved. In order to make good the deficiencies, it has now been decided that we would selectively go in for private participation for production of ammunition,” he added.The Defence Secretary’s deposition states that after taking into account the existing production capacities, the capability to deliver and the gaps that exist, it has been decided that to begin with seven items will be put up for private participation. “This is something which we can achieve without much delay because there are a number of companies which are willing to enter the field,” he said.