Lok Sabha Question No. 233 (STARRED), answered on 2018-01-03
Subject: Upgradation of Technology of Ordnance Factories
Ministry: DEFENCE
Asked by: OM BIRLA

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF DEFENCE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENCE PRODUCTION

## LOK  SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.233

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 3 RD  JANUARY, 2018

## UPGRADATION OF TECHNOLOGY OF ORDNANCE FACTORIES

## *233.  SHRI  OM BIRLA:

Will the Minister of DEFENCE j{kk ea=h be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has taken any significant step for the consolidation of the defence  forces  after  the  publication  of  the  CAG  Report  which  pointed  towards  the ammunition shortage and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) if not, the reasons therefor;
- (c) whether there is a shortage of staff at various ordnance factories in the country, if so, the details thereof and the action taken to resolve the problem;
- (d) whether the Government requires upgradation of technology used in the various ordnance  factories  to  optimise  their  rate  of  production  as  per  the  needs  of  the  Indian Defence Services; and
- (e) if so, the details thereof along with the steps taken by the Government to upgrade the technology employed in ordnance factories during the last three years and the current year?

## A    N    S    W    E    R

MINISTER OF DEFENCE                                    (SMT. NIRMALA SITHARAMAN)

j{kk ea=h

¼Jherh  fueZyk lhrkje.k )

(a) to (e): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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## STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (e)  OF  LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 233 FOR ANSWER ON 3.1.2018

(a) & (b): The  authorization  and  holding  of  ammunition  is  as  per operational  requirement of the Indian  Defence  Services.  Adequate reserves  have  been  authorized  to  cater  for  contingencies.  There  is adequate stock of ammunition with the Indian Defence Services and they are  well  equipped  for  meeting  any  operational  requirements.  Further, making  up  of  stock  of  ammunition  to  desired  level  is  a  continuous process,  the  requirements  for  which  are  identified  every  year  and procurements are undertaken accordingly.

There  are  82  ammunition items for which the  Army provides rollon-indents to Ordnance Factory Board (OFB). The plan for issue of these items till 2014-19  is  Rs.26,475  Crores against which  items worth Rs.12,919 Crores were delivered till March, 2017.

Besides the  roll-on-indent,  OFB issues a  number of ammunitions to  the  Indian  Armed  Forces  and  other  customers  (MHA,  Civil  Trade, Exports,  etc). The  total value  of issue  by  OFB  in  respect  of  all ammunition in 2016-17 was Rs.5,753 Crores.

- (c)     As per details given in Annexure 'A'.

(d) & (e): In order to keep  the  factories' assets  at par with the contemporary technology available in the market, OFB prepares modernization plan which is implemented as annual plan in each of the factories under following categories:

- (i) Renewal  &  Replacement  (RR)  of  plant  &  machinery  (P&M) which are beyond economical repairs;
- (ii) Acquisition  of  P&M  under  New  Capital  (NC)  for  higher productivity,  enhanced  quality,  focus  on  use  of  renewable energy and to address environmental issues, etc.; and
- (iii) Civil Works (CW) infrastructure.

Systematic  modernization  plan  was  put  in  place  since  2007-08. The expenditure on Modernisation for XI plan was Rs.2,927Crores. The expenditure on modernization of XII plan was Rs.5,351 Crores.

:  2  :

Investment made on modernization during last three years (Rs. in crore) is as given below:-

| Year                |   Renewal and Replacement (RR) |   New Capital (NC) |   Civil Works (CW) |
|---------------------|--------------------------------|--------------------|--------------------|
| 2014-15             |                            442 |                486 |                301 |
| 2015-16             |                            386 |                313 |                339 |
| 2016-17             |                            452 |                369 |                338 |
| 2017-18 (BE Target) |                            475 |                472 |                300 |

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## ANNEXURE 'A' REFERRED IN THE REPLY GIVEN IN THE STATEMENT IN PART (c) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 233 FOR ANSWER ON 3.1.2018

The sanctioned strength of Ordnance Factories is intended towards catering to  peak  load  requirement  of  Indian  Armed  Forces  while  existing  strength  is maintained for meeting the current load of the Armed Forces on annual basis. The flexibility is required to help Indian Ordnance Factories to augment the manpower at a very short notice in times of exigency and to cater the workload from time to time.

The last exercise of manpower planning of Ordnance Factories was carried out by a Manpower Rationalisation Committee during     2015-16, which took into consideration  various  implications  of  introduction  of  modern  technologies  and computerization of process on efficiency. The Committee accordingly recommended  reduction  of  total  sanctioned  strength  from  1,63,103  to  1,45,503, which was approved by Ministry of Defence with the condition  that  the  operating strength of the organization will not exceed 1.10 Lakh.

## The position of manpower as on 01.10.2017 is as follows:

| Category            | Sanctioned Strength   | Existing Strength (As on 01.10.2017)   |
|---------------------|-----------------------|----------------------------------------|
| Technical Staff     | 1,20,161              | 70,023                                 |
| Non-Technical Staff | 22,361                | 14,657                                 |
| Group 'A' Officers  | 2,981                 | 1,785                                  |
| Total:              | 1,45,503              | 86,465                                 |

However,  manpower  is  being  sanctioned  every  year in respect of all categories of employees based on vacancies available in the recruitment grade and work load requirement. The manpower (Gr. B & C) sanctioned for recruitment after April 2015 is as follows:

| Category                             | Year   | No. of posts sanctioned for recruitment   | Manpower Recruited                   |
|--------------------------------------|--------|-------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------|
| Industrial Employees (Gr. C)         | 2015   | 4,895                                     | 2,006                                |
| Industrial Employees (Gr. C)         | 2016   | 4,033                                     | 1,859                                |
| Industrial Employees (Gr. C)         | 2017   | --                                        | 3,587 (Under process of recruitment) |
| Non-Industrial Employees (Gr. B & C) | 2016   | 965 (under review)                        | --                                   |
| Non-Gazetted Officer (Gr. B)         | 2016   | 692 (under review)                        | --                                   |
| Gazetted Officer (Gr. B)             | 2015   | 188                                       | (under process of recruitment)       |
| Gazetted Officer (Gr. B)             | 2016   | 127 (under review)                        | --                                   |
|                                      | TOTAL: | 10,900                                    | 7,452                                |

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