Three years after forming seven new defence PSUs, govt mulls merger of five units: Report

The production units of the Ordnance Factory Board were converted into seven defence public sector undertakings. (Representative Image)

The government is exploring the possibility of merging five of the seven new defence public undertakings (DPSUs) in under three years of forming them from the former Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), according to a report in the Times of India dated September 2.

According to the report, SBI Caps has received the mandate to facilitate the merger of five PSUs, which includes merging Yantra India Limited in Nagpur with Munitions India Limited in Pune, and merging Troops Comforts Limited (TCL) and Gliders India Limited (GIL) in Kanpur along with India Optel Limited (IOL) in Dehradun with Bangalore-based Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL).

The production units of the Ordnance Factory Board were converted into seven defence public undertakings, comprising 41 units, effective October 1, 2021, to boost operational independence, and efficiency, and foster innovation within the ordnance factories.

The newly established defence public undertakings would possess increased functional and financial independence, and heightened accountability, enabling them to better assimilate new technologies, the government said while announcing the split of the entities.