Nagpur (Maharashtra) [India], May 22 (ANI): Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday was briefed about the activities undertaken by military formations and the Defence Public Sector Undertakings in Nagpur region.

Nagpur Aug 24 PTI Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday hailed the public-private collaboration in defence manufacturing and exuded confidence that soon India will make military products not just for domestic use but for the entire worldHe said handing over of Multi-Mode Hand Grenades MMHG manufactured by a Nagpur-based private firm and considered highly lethal but safer to use to the Indian Army was a big step towards self-reliance in defence manufacturing and a shining example of the increasing collaboration between public and private sectorsSingh said value of Indias defence exports stood at over Rs 17000 crore in the last two yearsThe first batch of one lakh MMHG manufactured by Economic Explosives Ltd EEL following transfer of technology from Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory of the Defence Research Development Organisation DRDO was handed over to the Army in the presence of Singh at a function here a PIB Defence Wing press release saidSpeaking at the function Singh said Today is a memorable day in the history of Indian defence sector Our private industry is coming of age when it comes to defence productionIt is an important milestone not only in the field of defence manufacturing but also in achieving Aatmanirbhar Bharat self-reliant India as envisioned by our Prime Minister Narendra Modi Singh lauded DRDO and EEL for the speedy delivery of the MMHG order amidst COVID-19 restrictions and hoped of a faster delivery of the next lot of the explosive weapon which will replace grenades of World War I vintage still used by the ArmyHe listed the measures undertaken by the Centre to transform the defence sector into a self-reliant industry which can cater to the present and the future needs of the armed forces These included setting up of defence industrial corridors in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu formulation of draft Defence Production and Export Promotion Policy DPEPP 2020 earmarking around 64 per cent of its modernisation funds under capital acquisition budget for 2021-22 for procurement from domestic companiesOther steps mentioned by Singh included notifying two positive indigenisation lists of over 200 items to promote self-reliance and defence exports corporatisation of Ordnance Factory Board OFB increasing FDI limit from 49 to 74 per cent under automatic route and beyond 74 per cent through government routeThe defence minister also made special mention about another initiative taken by the government - that is technology transfer to Industries by DRDODescribing these measure as the backbone of the defence industry he lauded DRDO for being an incubator which is undertaking free of cost transfer of technologies as well as providing access to testing facilities and over 450 patents This has not only enabled the industry to use ready-to-use technologies but has also saved time energy and money Singh said Singh spoke about the importance of Innovations for Defence Excellence iDEX saying it aims to achieve self-reliance foster innovation and technology development in defence and aerospace sectors by engaging industries including MSMEs start-ups individual innovators RD institutes and academia Under this initiative problems being faced by the armed forces defence PSUs and OFB are identified and brought before entrepreneurs MSMEs start-ups and innovators through Defence India Startup Challenge DISC to find solutions he said Singh commended the Indian industry for indigenously developing products like Multi-Mode Grenade Arjun-Mark-1 tank Unmanned Surface Vehicle and See Through Armor Such products are not just being produced but also exported on a large scale The number of online export authorisations during 2016-17 and 2018-19 was 1210 It has increased to 1774 in the last two years This has resulted in defence exports of over Rs 17000 crore in the last two years he added Singh exuded confidence that soon India will manufacture defence products not just for domestic use but for the whole worldThe grenade MMHG is not just more lethal but is safer to use It has a distinctive design that gives flexibility of employment in both defensive fragmentation and offensive stun modes It has a highly accurate delay time very high reliability in usage and safe for carriageThese new grenades will replace Grenade No 36 of World War I vintage design which had been continuing in service till date he saidEEL had signed a contract with the Ministry of Defence on October 1 2020 to supply 10 lakh modern hand grenades for the Army and the Indian Air Force The deliveries would be spread over two years from the bulk production clearance which was accorded to EEL in March 2021 the release saidThe first order has been delivered within five months it addedSingh was handed over a scale replica of MMHG by chairman of EEL S N Nuwal to mark the first delivery of ammunition from the private sector to the armed forces it said Chief of Army Staff General MM Naravane Chairman of DRDO Dr G Satheesh Reddy and Infantry DG Lt Gen AK Samantra were present on the occasion PTI CLS RSY RSY

Nagpur Aug 24 PTI Economic Explosives Ltd EEL a Nagpur-based private company on Tuesday handed over the first batch of one lakh indigenously manufactured modern hand grenades to the Indian Army in the presence of Defence Minister Rajnath SinghThe consignment of multi-mode hand grenades MMHG was handed over to the Army at a function here a defence release saidThis is the first instance of ammunition being manufactured by the private industry in India the release saidEEL a wholly-owned subsidiary company of Solar Industries India Ltd commenced deliveries of modern hand grenades to the armed forces last monthThe first consignment of 1 lakh MMHG had been tested satisfactorily for quality by users and delivered the release saidSingh was handed over a scale replica of MMHG by chairman of EEL S N Nuwal to mark the first delivery of ammunition from the private sector to the armed forces it said Chief of Army Staff General MM Naravane Chairman of DRDO Dr G Satheesh Reddy and Infantry DG Lt Gen AK Samantra were present on the occasionEEL had signed a contract with the Ministry of Defence MoD on October 1 2020 to supply 10 lakh modern hand grenades for use by the Army and the Indian Air Force IAF the release said The deliveries would be spread over two years from the bulk production clearance BPC which was accorded to EEL in March 2021 it saidThese new grenades will replace Grenade No 36 of World War I vintage design which had been continuing in service till date The MMHGs have a distinctive design giving flexibility of employment in both defensive fragmentation and offensive stun modesThey have highly accurate delay time very high reliability in usage and are safe for carriage These modern grenades were designed by Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory of DRDO the release saidEEL had taken the technology from DRDO in 2016Extensive trials of the grenades were successfully undertaken by the Indian Army and DGQA Directorate General Of Quality Assurance in 2017-18 in plains deserts and high altitude over summer and winter the release saidAgainst a General Staff Qualitative Requirement GSQR of 95 per cent reliability the grenades manufactured by EEL had highly superior reliability of 998 per cent it added The success of the MMHG story is further amplified by its usage of 100 per cent indigenous content the release added PTI CLS RSY RSY

New Delhi Aug 23 PTI Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will visit the facility of private defence company Economic Explosives Limited EEL in Nagpur on TuesdayIn October last year the Defence Ministry had signed a contract with EEL to supply 10 lakh multi-mode hand grenades to the Indian Army at a cost of Rs 409 croreRaksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh will be on a day-long visit to Nagpur tomorrow Tuesday He will be attending a programme at the EEL factory premises the Defence Ministers Office said on Twitter on MondayOn Tuesday the minister will also be visiting a lab of the Centre-run Defence Research and Development Organisation DRDO in the city Singhs office notedMoreover Singh will visit the headquarters of the Indian Air Forces Maintenance Command in Nagpur it mentioned PTI DSP IJT

New Delhi (India), August 23 (ANI): Showcasing the indigenous ability to produce high-quality weapon systems, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh would hand over a consignment of Made in India multimode grenades to the Indian Army in Nagpur on Tuesday.