Katana VentraIP

Ordnance Factory Board

Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), consisting of the Indian Ordnance Factories, now known as Directorate of Ordnance (Coordination & Services), was an organisation, under the Department of Defence Production (DDP) of Ministry of Defence (MoD), Government of India.[9]

Having converted the 41 Indian Ordnance Factories into 7 Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) in 2021, the Government is merging them again in 2024, as the output of one factory serves as the input of the other.[10][11]


OFB was the 37th-largest defence equipment manufacturer in the world, 2nd-largest in Asia, and the largest in India.[12] OFB was the world's largest government-operated production organisation,[13] and the oldest organisation in India.[14][15] It had a total workforce of about 80,000.[8] It was often called the "Fourth Arm of Defence",[16][17][18] and the "Force Behind the Armed Forces" of India.[19][20] Its total sales were at US$3 billion (₹22,389.22 crores) in the year 2020–'21.[2]


It was engaged in research, development, production, testing, marketing and logistics of a product range in the areas of air, land and sea systems. OFB consisted of forty-one ordnance factories, nine training institutes, three regional marketing centres and four regional controllerates of safety, which are spread all across the country.[21][22] Every year, 18 March is celebrated as the Ordnance Factory Day in India.[23][24]

History[edit]

Origins[edit]

The Indian Ordnance Factories predate all the other organisations like the Indian Army and the Indian Railways by over a century. The first Indian ordnance factory can trace its origins back to the year 1712 when the Dutch Ostend Company established a Gun Powder Factory in Ichhapur.[25] In 1787, another gunpowder factory was established at Ichapore; it began production in 1791, and the site was later used as a rifle factory, beginning in 1904. In 1801, Gun Carriage Agency (now known as Gun & Shell Factory, Cossipore) was established at Cossipore, Calcutta, and production began on 18 March 1802. This is the oldest ordnance factory in India still in existence.[26]

Contributions[edit]

The Indian Ordnance Factories have not only supported India through the wars, but also played an important role in building India, with the advancement of technology, and have ushered the Industrial Revolution in India, starting with the first modern steel, aluminium, copper plants of India,[27][28] first modern electric textile mill of India, first chemical industries of India,[29] established the first engineering colleges of India, as its training schools,[30] sparked India's first war of independence in 1857 with its rifles and bullets,[31][32] and also played key role in the founding of research and industrial organisations like ISRO, DRDO, BDL, BEL, BEML, SAIL, etc.[33][34]

Ordnance Factory Board, Kolkata

Armoured Vehicles Headquarters, Chennai

Ordnance Equipment Factories Headquarters, Kanpur

Ordnance Factory Board, New Delhi Office

Ordnance Factory Cell, Mumbai

Ordnance Factories Recruitment Centre, Nagpur

IOF .22 revolver

(7.65 mm X 23)

IOF .32 revolver

IOF .32 revolver Nirbheek

IOF .32 pistol Ashani

IOF .22 sporting rifle

IOF .315 sporting rifle

IOF .30-06 sporting rifle

Customers[edit]

Armed Forces[edit]

The prime customers of Indian Ordnance Factories were the Indian Armed Forces viz. Indian Army, Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force.[47][48] Apart from supplying armaments to the Armed Forces, Ordnance Factories also meet the requirements of other customers viz. the Central Armed Police Forces, State Armed Police Forces, Paramilitary Forces of India and the Special Forces of India in respect of arms, ammunition, clothing, bullet proof vehicles, mine protected vehicles etc.[21][49]

Civil trade[edit]

Customers are in the civil sector, central/state government organisations and departments such as Indian Railways, Indian Space Research Organisation, Defence Research and Development Organisation, Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre, Nuclear Fuel Complex, Aeronautical Development Agency, Department of Atomic Energy, Department of Telecommunications, and State Electricity Boards.[50][51][52][53] Public Sector Undertakings in India (PSUs) such as HMT Limited, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, Bharat Dynamics Limited,[54] private companies and individuals etc. who purchased industrial chemicals, explosives, arms, ammunition, brass ingots, aluminium alloy products for aircraft, steel castings and forgings, vehicles, clothing and leather goods, cables and opto-electronic instruments.[55]

Exports[edit]

Arms and ammunition, weapon spares, chemicals and explosives, parachutes, leather and clothing items were exported to more than 30 countries worldwide.

– Former IOFS officer. Invented fibre optics that revolutionised laparoscopic and endoscopic surgery, telecommunications, power transmission, etc. Named as one of the seven "Unsung Heroes of the 20th century" by Fortune magazine for his Nobel Prize-deserving invention.[59] Known as the "Father of Fibre Optics" and "The Man who Bent Light".[60] Former professor at Stanford, Universities of California at Berkeley, Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz. Had more than 150 patents to his credit.[60] Conferred upon with Padma Vibhushan, the second-highest honour in India, Pravasi Bharatiya Samman, Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng). He was also offered the post of Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister of India, by the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru.[61]

Narinder Singh Kapany

- IOFS. Served as the first General Manager of the Heavy Vehicles Factory,[62][63][64] founding Chairman & Managing Director of Bokaro Steel Plant, Member of the Atomic Energy Commission of India. First IOFS officer and first non-IAS officer to hold the posts of Secretary of Ministry of Heavy Industries, Ministry of Steel, Ministry of Mines and Ministry of Coal.[65][66][67] Awarded Padma Shri by the President of India,[68] Commander of the Order of the Lion of Finland by the President of Finland.[69] The headquarters of Confederation of Indian Industry is named in his honour.[70] He also served as the Chairman of several MNCs such as Ashok Leyland,[71] ABB, Wärtsilä.[72]

Mantosh Sondhi

- Former IOFS officer. Secured All India 2nd Rank in the Engineering Services Examination of 1965, served as the Chairman & Managing Director of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Director of Kudremukh Iron Ore Company, Mahanadi Coalfields, National Aluminium Company (NALCO), Bharat Earth Movers (BEML). Awarded Padma Shri in 2004 by the Government of India for his role in the development of LCA – Tejas.

Nalini Ranjan Mohanty

- Founder of Hero MotoCorp, the world's largest two-wheeler manufacturer, and Hero Cycles, world's largest cycle manufacturer. Awarded Padma Bhushan.

Brijmohan Lall Munjal

IOFS. First Indian to climb Mount Everest.[73][74] Author, mountaineer, social worker. Founder & Chairman of Indian Spinal Injuries Centre. Conferred on with the Arjuna Award, Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan by the Government of India, Fellowship of Royal Geographical Society (FRGS). Also served as a Commissioned officer in the Indian Army and Member of Planning Commission (India).

H. P. S. Ahluwalia

- IOFS. Served as the Director General Ordnance Factories (DGOF). He was awarded Padma Shri in 1962, and Padma Bhushan in 1965, by the Government of India, in the Civil Service category, for his contributions during the Indo-China War of 1962 and the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, respectively.[75]

Santu Shahaney

- IOFS. Second Indian Director General of the Indian Ordnance Factories. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India, in 1973, in the Civil service category, for his contributions during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971

R. M. Muzumdar

- IOFS officer. Developed the solid propellant for India's first space rocket launched from Thumba, and the detonation system of India's first nuclear bomb used in Operation Smiling Buddha. Served at the Ammunition Factory Khadki, and as the first Director of High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL) and the Armaments Research and Development Establishment (ARDE) of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Awarded Padma Shri in 1974.

Waman Dattatreya Patwardhan

- IOFS. Known as one of the "Seven Pioneers of the Indian Space Programme".[76][77][78] He served at the Machine Tool Prototype Factory (MTPF), Ambernath, and as the first Director of the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS), and the Space Science & Technology Centre, now known as the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Awarded Padma Shri in 1969.[75]

H. G. S. Murthy

K. C. Banerjee - IOFS. Received in 1967, for his contributions during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, as the General Manager of Rifle Factory Ishapore,[79] that developed and manufactured the 7.62 Self-Loading Automatic Rifle, that played decisive role in India's victory in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965.[80][81][82][83]

Padma Shri

an IOFS officer. Received Padma Shri in 1972, in the civil-service category, as the General Manager of Ammunition Factory Khadki, which developed and manufactured the anti-submarine rockets used in sinking the submarine PNS Ghazi during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.[84]

O. P. Bahl