While the budgetary allocation for defence increased by 11 per cent over last year, the ordnance factories? share fell from Rs 6.64 billion to Rs 1.34 billion. The Ordnance Factories Organization, India?s largest departmentally run industrial undertaking, manufactures ammunition, armaments, battle tanks, optical instruments, floating bridges and parachutes for the armed forces. It also caters to Central and state police organizations, the Border Security Force and the railways. A beginning has also been made to enter the arms export market. The factories employ imported as well as indigenous technologies. Production of the Arjun battle tank is an example of the utilization of indigenous technology to bolstering India?s defence capabilities. The Calcutta based ordnance factory board controls all ordnance factories on behalf of the defence ministry?s department of defence production and supplies. The OFB, with all the accompanying bureaucratic trappings, has the overall responsibility of planning, policy management and implementation of the production programme. Have ordnance factories been able to meet the requirements of the frontline troops when defence technologies are in for a transition into the era of sophistication? Perhaps not to the desired extent. Had it been so, the Indian army ? their main customer ? would not have had extended the average life span of its equipment for up to 30 years. Missed deadlines Lieutenant- General G.S. Dhilon, the army?s master general of ordnance, says that though 70 per cent of the soldiers? combat items and 80 per cent of their clothing are supplied by the OFB, combat and support gear often do not arrive on time. Winter clothing usually reaches jawans in remote Himalayan borders after winter has set in. Deadlines for essential supplies aren?t always met. Delivery of arms, ammunition, tanks and vehicles is often inadequate. The parliamentary standing committee on defence has stressed the need for improvement in the performance of ordnance factories. Several problems dog the two century old organization. Most factories still employ nearly three decade old (hence labour intensive) technologies. Whenever modernization was initiated it was related to specific product implementation. With their tight budgetary allocations, the armed services ? which form a large captive market ? do not get value for money. The defence secretary, T.R. Prasad, has said that while Maruti Udyog Limited, with a staff of 5,000 workers, has a turnover of Rs 60 billion, the OFB, with a 153,000 strong workforce, has a turnover of Rs 40 billion. His comments should act as a wake up call for the organization. Prasad notes many ordnance plant managers were compelled to spend more time running virtual municipal services than on maintaining the plant and meeting production deadlines. Techno music The OFB does not seem to have done much in the recent past to bring about efficiency standards comparable to the private sector. However, during the general managers? conference held in February this year its leadership did some soul searching. The deliberations veered around the urgency for modernization and a financial management system in ordnance factories. Participation in the export and civil markets was also discussed. As was the OFB?s new human resources strategy since with automation, specialized trades like computer aided design will play a prominent role in the manufacturing process. The armed forces? dependence on state of the art technology will call for inducting modern plant and machinery. Labour intensive equipment needs to be phased out at the earliest. There is also a need for cost effectiveness and competitive pricing. It has finally dawned on OFB officials that the scope for increasing prices is limited given the army?s tight budget. In addition, market forces should be allowed to determine product prices. There are no two questions on the need to concentrate on the manufacture of high technology armaments while downloading production of clothing and troop equipment and low-tech combat items in general to the corporate sector. The OFB?s technological vision for the next century even calls for disinvestment and privatization in select low-tech factories to garner monetary aid for modernization.