Indian Army soldiers firing an artillery gun at a test range. (File photo for representation.)
New Delhi: The defence ministry signed a long-term contract with the Pune-based state-owned Bharat Electronics Limited for the procurement of electronic fuzes for the Indian Army’s indigenously made artillery ammunition, on Friday. The deal, which is valid for 10 years, is worth ₹5,336.25 crore.
This deal has been inked for ammunition procurement under the government’s “Manufacture of Ammunition for Indian Army by Indian Industry” initiative. According to the government, the objective of this initiative is to increase ammunition stocks to minimize imports, achieve self-sufficiency in ammunition manufacturing, obtain critical technologies, and secure stock affected by supply-chain disruption.
A fuze (which is sometimes spelled as “fuse”) is a device that detonates a munition’s explosive material under specified conditions. Electronic fuzes are an integral component of ammunition used in modern medium- to heavy-calibre artillery guns. The BEL electronic fuzes will be procured for ammunition of artillery guns that are capable of shelling in various kinds of terrain, including mountains and desert, like in the northern and western borders respectively.
BEL will manufacture these electronic fuzes in its Pune plant and later in its Nagpur plant, which is expected to start operating soon.
According to government officials, the project is expected to generate employment for 1.5 lakh man days and encourage active participation of private Indian industries, including MSMEs (micro, small, and medium enterprises) in ammunition manufacturing and broaden the ammunition-manufacturing ecosystem in the country.
