Ordnance Factory Khamaria (OFK) has acquired the bulk production clearance (BPC) of supplying 20,000 units of 125 mm FSAPDS anti-tank practice ammunition. The indigenously developed practice ammunition will curtail the huge defence budget of Rs 750 crores of the Indian Army. OFK, Senior General Manager, M N Haldar (IOFS), while talking to ‘The Hitavada’, informed they have obtained the bulk production clearance (BPC) from the competent authorities for production and supply of 20,000 units of 125 mm FSAPDS anti-tank practice ammunition. OFK will start the production of practice ammunition of around Rs 250 crores after the Dussehra festival.

 

Availability of practice version of expensive ammunition will not only curtail huge defence expenditure but also provide additional workload to the factory. He added that OFK is bringing pace to in-house research and development to develop several other defence ammunition for exploring export potentials in the international market.

 

It may be noted that the practice with 125 mm anti-tank ammunition which is amounting to around Rs 5 lakh per unit was a costly affair for the armed forces. Pointing out the issue, OFK started in-house research and development to curtail this expenditure and successfully developed the practice ammunition with same calibration amounting to approximately Rs 1.25 lakh which also passed all the validation trials. Besides this, GM Haldar added that it is first time in the history when OFK is going to complete the production of around Rs 1,000 crore in first half of the financial year.