name type government organisation industry defence founded 1775 1 headquarters ayudh bhawan kolkata area served worldwide key people v. p. yajurvedi iofs director general ordnance factories & chairman ofb products small arms aircraft weapons anti aircraft warfare naval weapons anti ship warfare anti submarine warfare anti tank warfare missiles missile launchers rockets rocket launchers bombs grenades mortars mines military vehicles engines armoured vehicles chemical warfare clothing artillery ammunition propellants explosives . revenue 2.7 billion 16 246 crores 2011 2012 2 3 number of employees 164 000 4 website ofb.gov.in ordnance factories board ofb hindi ; iast yudh nirm bor consisting of the indian ordnance factories ; bh rat ya yudh nirm iy n is an industrial organisation functioning under the department of defence production of ministry of defence government of india . it is engaged in research development production testing marketing and logistics of a comprehensive product range in the areas of air land and sea systems . ofb comprises forty one ordnance factories nine training institutes three regional marketing centres and four regional controllerates of safety which are spread all across the country . 5 6 ofb is the world s largest government operated production organisation 7 and the oldest organisation run by the government of india . 8 9 it has a total workforce of about 164 000 . 4 it is often called the fourth arm of defence 10 11 12 and the force behind the armed forces of india . 13 14 it is amongst the top fifty defence equipment manufacturers in the world . 2 15 its total sales were at 2.7 billion 16 246 crores in 2011 12 . every year 18 march is celebrated as the ordnance factories day in india . 16 17 contents 1 history 2 infrastructure and leadership 2.1 headquarters 2.2 apex board 2.3 ordnance factories 2.4 training institutes 2.5 regional marketing centres 2.6 regional controllerates of safety 3 indian ordnance factories service iofs 4 products 4.1 products available to civilians 4.1.1 arms 4.1.2 ammunition 4.2 products not available to civilians 5 customers 5.1 armed forces 5.2 civil trade 5.3 exports 6 criticism 7 people 7.1 employees 7.1.1 officers 7.1.2 others 7.2 associates 7.3 family 8 references history edit beginning the history and development of the indian ordnance factories is directly linked with the british reign in india . the east india company considered military hardware to be a vital element for securing their economic interest in india and increasing their political power . in 1775 the british east india company accepted the establishment of the board of ordnance at fort william calcutta . this marks the official beginning of the army ordnance in india . in 1787 a 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 . 18 growth the growth of the ordnance factories board leading to its present setup has been continuous but sporadic . there were eighteen ordnance factories before india became independent in 1947 and twenty three factories have been established after independence mostly in the wake of defence preparedness imperatives brought about by the wars involving india . main events 1801 establishment of gun carriage agency at cossipore kolkata . 1802 production begins at cossipore on 18 march . 1906 the administration of indian ordnance factories comes under a separate charge as ig of ordnance factories . 1933 charged to director of ordnance factories . 1948 placed under direct control of ministry of defence . 1962 department of defence production was set up at ministry of defence . 1979 ordnance factories board is established on 2 april . infrastructure and leadership edit armoured vehicles headquarters avhq chennai headquarters edit armoured vehicles headquarters chennai avhq ordnance equipment factories headquarters kanpur oefhq ordnance factory cell new delhi ofbdel ordnance factory cell mumbai ofbmum ordnance factories recruitment board nagpur ofrb ordnance factory board kolkata ofbhq apex board edit the apex board is headed by the director general of ordnance factories dgof who acts as the chairman of the board ex officio secretary to government of india and consists of nine other members who each hold the rank of additional dgof . ordnance factories are divided into 5 operating divisions depending upon the type of the main products technologies employed . these are ammunition and explosives a & e weapons vehicles & equipment wv & e materials and components m & c armoured vehicles av ordnance equipment group of factories oef each of the above group of factories is headed by a member additional dgof . the four remaining members are responsible for staff functions viz personnel per finance fin planning & material management p & mm technical services ts and they operate from kolkata . ordnance factories edit ordnance factory medak s gate no. 1 security checkpost at night ordnance factory varangaon s admin block s security checkpost ammunition factory khadki pune afk cordite factory aruvankadu cfa engine factory avadi chennai efa field gun factory kanpur fgk gun carriage factory jabalpur gcf grey iron foundry jabalpur gif gun and shell factory kolkata gsf heavy alloy penetrator project tiruchirappalli happ high explosives factory pune hef heavy vehicles factory chennai hvf machine tool prototype factory mumbai mpf metal and steel factory kolkata msf ordnance clothing factory avadi chennai ocfav ordnance cable factory chandigarh ocfc ordnance clothing factory shahjahanpur ocfs ordnance equipment factory kanpur oefc ordnance equipment factory hazratpur firozabad oefhz ordnance factory ambernath mumbai ofa ordnance factory ambajhari nagpur ofaj ordnance factory bhandara ofba ordnance factory bhusawal ofbh ordnance factory bolangir ofbol ordnance factory kanpur ofc ordnance factory chandrapur ofch ordnance factory dumdum kolkata ofdc ordnance factory dehu road pune ofdr ordnance factory dehradun ofdun ordnance factory itarsi ofi ordnance factory khamaria jabalpur ofk ordnance factory katni ofkat ordnance factory muradnagar ofm ordnance factory project nalanda ofn ordnance factory project korwa ofpkr ordnance factory project medak ofpm ordnance factory tiruchirappalli oft ordnance factory varangaon ofv opto electronics factory dehradun olf ordnance parachute factory kanpur opf rifle factory ishapore kolkata rfi small arms factory kanpur saf vehicle factory jabalpur vfj each ordnance factory is headed by a general manager who is in the rank of additional secretary to government of india . training institutes edit nadp nagpur on the valedictory function of iofs 2010 batch national academy of defence production nagpur nadp ordnance factories institute of learning ambajhari nagpur ofilaj ordnance factories institute of learning ambernath mumbai ofilam ordnance factories institute of learning avadi chennai ofilav ordnance factories institute of learning dehradun ofildd ordnance factories institute of learning ishapore kolkata ofilis ordnance factories institute of learning khamaria jabalpur ofilkh ordnance factories institute of learning kanpur ofilkn ordnance factories institute of learning medak ofilmk each ofil is headed by a principal director and nadp by a senior principal director . nadp provides training to group a officers whilst the other eight institutes impart training to group b and group c employees of the ordnance factories . regional marketing centres edit regional marketing centre avadi chennai rmcav regional marketing centre delhi rmcdl regional marketing centre pune rmcpu each regional marketing centre is headed by a regional director . regional controllerates of safety edit regional controllerate of safety ambajhari nagpur rcsaj regional controllerate of safety avadi chennai rcsav regional controllerate of safety kanpur rcskn regional controllerate of safety pune rcspu each regional controllerate of safety is headed by a regional controller of safety . indian ordnance factories service iofs edit main article indian ordnance factories service the indian ordnance factories service iofs hindi is a civil service of the government of india . iofs officers are gazetted group a defence civilian officers under the ministry of defence . iofs is a multi disciplinary composite cadre consisting of technical engineers civil electrical mechanical electronics technologists chemical metallurgical textile leather and non technical administrative science law commerce management and arts graduates . technical posts comprise about 87 % of the total cadre . the doctors surgeons and physicians serving in ofb belong to a separate service known as the indian ordnance factories health service iofhs . iofhs officers are responsible for the maintenance of health of the employees and the hospitals of ofb . they report directly to the iofs officers . iofs and iofhs are the only two civil services under the department of defence production . 19 recruitment the recruitment in the indian ordnance factories as a group a officer is done by the union public service commission upsc based on the performance in the rigorous and prestigious engineering services examination ese and the civil services examination cse . 20 engineering posts are filled through the engineering services examination while technologists are selected through interviews by upsc . posts in the non technical streams are filled through the civil services examination . iofs is the only cadre in which candidates are selected by all four means cse ese interviews and promotions . iofhs officers are selected through the combined medical services examination conducted by upsc . 21 22 23 all appointments to the group a civil services are made by the president of india . 24 hierarchy group a grade designation in the field designation in headquarters pay scale junior time scale assistant works manager assistant director 15 600 39 100 plus grade pay of 5400 senior time scale works manager deputy director 15 600 39 100 plus grade pay of 6600 senior time scale non functional deputy general manager joint director 15 600 39 100 plus grade pay of 7600 junior administrative grade functional joint general manager director 37 400 67 000 plus grade pay of 8700 senior administrative grade addl . gm general manager principal director regional director regional controller of safety deputy director general 37 400 67 000 plus grade pay of 10000 higher administrative grade senior general manager senior principal director senior deputy director general 67 000 79 000 plus grade pay nil higher administrative grade nil addl . director general & member of the board 75 500 80 000 plus grade pay nil apex scale nil director general ordnance factories dgof & chairman of the ordnance factories board 80 000 fixed plus grade pay nil 25 products edit the type of ordnance material produced is very diverse ranging from various small arms to missiles rockets bombs grenades military vehicles armoured vehicles chemicals optical devices parachutes mortars artillery pieces plus all associated ammunition propellants explosives and fuzes . 26 products available to civilians edit civilians are required to hold arms license issued only for non prohibited bore category weapons in order to buy firearms in india . the following products of the indian ordnance factories board are available for civilians arms edit iof .22 revolver iof .32 revolver 7.65 mm x 23 .32 revolver iof .32 revolver nirbheek iof .32 pistol ashani iof .22 sporting rifle iof .315 sporting rifle iof .30 06 sporting rifle ammunition edit cartridge rimfire .22 ball cartridge sa .32 revolver cartridge sa .315 and 30 06 ball cartridge sa 12 bore 70mm cartridge sa 12 bore 65mm special products not available to civilians edit these products are exclusively manufactured for use by the armed forces and are not sold to the civilians . small arms pistol auto 9mm 1a manufactured by rfi 38mm multi shell launcher ugra multi caliber individual weapon system mciws 84mm shoulder fired rocket launcher recoilless gun saf carbine 1a1 zittara assault rifle ags 30 automatic grenade launcher rocket propelled grenade launcher ammunition medium & large caliber ammunition mortar bombs large caliber ammunition artillery pinaka rockets manufactured by ofaj 155mm artillery gun in 39mm 45mm and 52mm caliber configurations smerch rockets to be produced at ofaj self propelled artillery 105mm self propelled tracked howitzer 105mm wheeled vehicle mounted gun system developed by gcf and vfj 130mm