Union Government’s bold decision to open up the ammunition manufacturing sector for private agencies is paying rich dividends as the Indian Army is all set to receive the first consignment of high quality grenades manufactured by Nagpur-based Economic Explosives Limited, said Anmol Rathi, Deputy General Manager of the company.
It is for the first time in the Indian history a private company is manufacturing ammunition for the Armed Forces.
Economic Explosives Limited, a subsidiary of Solar Industries India Limited, was recently awarded the contract of manufacturing 10 lakh grenades worth Rs 400 crore for the Indian Army.
The first consignment of 40,000 Multi-Mode Hand Grenades (MMHG) will replace the British era vintage hand grenades being used by the country’s Army till date.
Armed Forces in many Commonwealth Nations, including India, are still using the vintage hand grenades designed by the British way back in 1915.
The new MMHG is designed jointly by the Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory (TBRL), a laboratory of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Economic Explosives Limited.
According to Anmol Rathi ,a team of senior officers of DRDO and other concerned agencies would soon conduct a pre-delivery inspection of the consignment and pave way for material dispatch.
