Amethi unit all set to make AK-203 rifles
For Prelims
About Advanced Weapons and Equipment India:
- Advanced Weapons and Equipment India Limited (AWE) is a defence company headquartered in Kanpur, under 100% ownership of the government of India.
- It was established in 2021 as part of the restructuring and corporatisation of the Ordnance Factory Board into seven different Public Sector Undertakings.
- AWE primarily manufactures small arms and artillery guns for the use of the Indian Armed Forces, foreign militaries and domestic civilian use.
About Munitions India Ltd (MIL):
- Munitions India Limited (MIL) is a defence company, headquartered in Pune under 100% ownership of the government of India.
- It was established in 2021 as part of the restructuring and corporatisation of the Ordnance Factory Board into seven different Public Sector Undertakings.
- Munitions India primarily manufactures ammunition, explosives, rockets and bombs for the use of the Indian Armed Forces, foreign militaries and domestic civilian use.
About Corporatization of Ordnance Factory Board:
- 41 factories of Ordnance Factory Board across the country were dissolved into seven new Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSU) which are 100% owned by the government.
The need for corporatisation:
- Corporatisation will lead to improvements in efficiency, make products cost-competitive, and enhance their quality.
Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in its report for 2019 on the OFB detected that;
- Expenses not directly attributed to creating a product or service (overheads) constitute 33% of the total budget allocated for the year.
- The Ordnance factories achieved production targets for only 49% of the time.
- More than half the inventory (52%) was procured for manufacture but not used within the year by the factories.
The companies formed out of OFB:
- India Optel Ltd; Armoured Vehicles Nigam Ltd; Munitions India Ltd; Troop Comforts Ltd; Advanced Weapons and Equipment India Ltd; Gliders India Ltd and Yantra India Ltd.
About AK 203:
- The AK-203 is a Russian gas-operated, magazine-fed, select fire assault rifle designed to chamber the 7.62×39mm cartridge.
- The Indian Army is procuring 670,000 AK-203 assault rifles to replace the INSAS, through a contract with Russia.
- The first 70,000 rifles were purchased from Russia and delivered in January 2022.
- The remaining 600,000 rifles will be manufactured in Amethi, India under a transfer of technology agreement, by Indo-Russia Rifles Private Limited (IRRPL).
About Indo-Russia Rifles Private Limited (IRRPL)
- IRRPL was set up jointly between Advanced Weapons and Equipment India Limited (AWEIL) and Munitions India Limited (MIL) of India and Rosoboronexport (RoE) and Concern Kalashnikov of Russia.
Source: THE HINDU
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