The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is the premier agency under the Department of Defence Research and Development in Ministry of Defence of the Government of India, charged with the military's research and development, headquartered in Delhi, India. It was formed in 1958 by the merger of the Technical Development Establishment and the Directorate of Technical Development and Production of the Indian Ordnance Factories with the Defence Science Organisation under the administration of Jawaharlal Nehru. Subsequently, Defence Research & Development Service (DRDS) was constituted in 1979 as a service of Group 'A' Officers / Scientists directly under the administrative control of Ministry of Defence.
Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) is an Indian central public sector undertaking and the largest government-owned power generation equipment manufacturer. It is owned by the Government of India, with administrative control by the Ministry of Heavy Industries. Established in 1956 with the help of Soviet technology, BHEL is based in New Delhi.
Heavy Vehicles Factory (HVF) is an armoured vehicle and battle tank manufacturing factory located at Avadi in Chennai in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is managed by Armoured Vehicles Nigam Limited (AVANI) of the Ministry of Defence, Government of India.
HMT Limited, formerly Hindustan Machine Tools Limited, is an Indian state-owned manufacturing company under the control of the Ministry of Heavy Industries, Government of India. It was founded in 1953 as a machine tool manufacturing company, diversifying into watches, tractors, printing machinery, metal forming presses, die casting and plastic processing machinery, and CNC systems and bearings. HMT is headquartered at Bangalore.
The Department of Defence Production of the Ministry of Defence is responsible for the indigenous production of equipment used by the Indian Navy and the other armed forces. It comprises the 41 Indian Ordnance Factories under control of the Ordnance Factories Board and eight Defence PSUs: HAL, BEL, BEML, BDL, MDL, GSL, GRSE and Midhani. The present weapon systems of the Indian Navy are:
Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), consisting of the Indian Ordnance Factories, now known as Directorate of Ordnance, was an organisation, under the Department of Defence Production (DDP) of Ministry of Defence (MoD), Government of India.
Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) is an Indian Government-owned aerospace and defence electronics company. It primarily manufactures advanced electronic products for ground and aerospace applications. BEL is one of sixteen PSUs under the Ministry of Defence of India. It has been granted Navratna status by the Government of India.
Defence Materials and Stores Research and Development Establishment (DMSRDE) is a laboratory of the Indian Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) at Kanpur. It is responsible for the research and development of materials for the Indian military services, including various types of protective clothing and equipment.
Ordnance Clothing Factory is an Indian clothing manufacturing company run by the Ordnance Factories Board, Government of India.
Ordnance Factory Tiruchirappalli (OFT), also called Ordnance Factory Trichy, is a small arms factory operated by Advanced Weapons and Equipment India Limited based in Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, which was previously part of Ordnance Factory Board of the Ministry of Defence, Government of India. The company is headed only by an IOFS officer called General Manager (ex officio Additional Secretary to Government of India) who is the chief executive officer, responsible for the overall management of the company.
The Indian Ordnance Factories Service (IOFS) is a civil service of the Government of India. IOFS officers are Gazetted defence-civilian officers under the Ministry of Defence. They are responsible for the administration of the Indian Ordnance Factories, which provide the indigenous defence production capabilities of India.
Public Sector Undertakings (PSU) or Public Sector Enterprises (PSE) in India are government-owned enterprises in which 51 percent or more share capital is held by the Government of India or state governments or joint ventures between multiple Public Sector Enterprises. Depending on the level of government ownership, they can be broadly categorised as Central PSUs or State PSUs. These entities include government companies, statutory corporations, banking institutions, and departmentally run companies. PSUs are officially classified into three categories, which are Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSE) and Public Sector Banks (PSB) owned by the central government or other CPSEs/PSBs, and State Level Public Enterprises (SLPE) owned by state governments or other SLPEs. CPSE is further classified into Strategic Sector and Non-Strategic Sector. Depending on their financial performance and progress, CPSEs are granted the status of Maharatna, Navaratna, and Miniratna.
The defence industry sector of India is a strategically important sector in India. India has one of the world's largest military forces with a strength of over 1.44 million active personnel. It has the world's largest volunteer military of over 5.1 million personnel. The total budget sanctioned for the Indian military for the financial year 2021 is ₹4.78 lakh crore. It has the third largest annual defence budget behind USA and China. It is the second largest defence importer behind Saudi Arabia making up 9.2% of global arms import. India has a domestic defence industry of which 60% is government owned. The public sector includes NTRO, CSIR, PRL, DRDO and its 50 labs, 4 defence shipyards, 12 defence PSUs. India has a new defence procurement, acquisition and manufacturing policy to reduce imports and enhance domestic manufacturing.
Advanced Weapons and Equipment India Limited (AWE) is an Indian defence Public Sector Undertaking, headquartered in Kanpur, India. AWE primarily manufactures Small arms and artillery guns for the use of the Indian Armed Forces, foreign militaries and domestic civilian use.
Armoured Vehicles Nigam Limited (AVANI) is an Indian state-owned defence company, headquartered in Avadi, Chennai established in 2021 as part of the restructuring and corporatisation of the Ordnance Factory Board into seven different Public Sector Undertakings. AVANI primarily manufactures Armoured fighting vehicles, Main battle tanks and their engines for the use of the Indian Armed Forces and foreign militaries. Products of AVANI include Arjun, T-90, BMP-2 Sarath, Vijayanta, Kartik BLT, M-46 Catapult and T-72 Ajeya battle tanks and stallion trucks.
Gliders India Limited (GIL) is an Indian state-owned defence company, headquartered at Ordnance Parachute Factory in Kanpur, India established in 2021 as part of the restructuring and corporatisation of the Ordnance Factory Board into seven different Public Sector Undertakings. GIL primarily manufactures military parachutes for the use of the Indian Armed Forces and foreign militaries and parachutes for aero-sport and emergency services.
Munitions India Limited (MIL) is an Indian state-owned defence company, headquartered in Pune, India, 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.
Yantra India Limited is an Indian major state-owned defence production PSU, headquartered in Nagpur, India. Established in 2021 as part of the government’s restructuring and corporatisation of the Ordnance Factory Board into seven different Public Sector Undertakings - the company consists of eight defence manufacturing factory units indigenously catering to the needs of supplies, arms, explosives, artillery and munition for the Indian Armed Forces.
India Optel Limited is an Indian state-owned defence company, headquartered in Dehradun, India established in 2021 as part of the restructuring and corporatization of the Ordnance Factory Board into seven different Public Sector Undertakings. India Optel primarily manufactures Electro-optical sensors, weapon sights and communication equipment for the use of the Indian Armed Forces and foreign militaries.
