First private firm to manufacture 155mm ammunition for Indian Army is not owned by Mukesh Ambani or Gautam Adani, but...

In what may be called a milestone, Reliance Infrastructure has become the first Indian company in the private sector to design and develop four types of new generation 155mm artillery ammunition. The Reliance ADAG company will soon begin manufacturing these ammunition under the ‘Make in India’ initiative. To achieve this target Anil Ambani entered into a Design-cum-Production Partner programme with the Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE). This is a unit of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). 

DRDO Project

According to the Financial Express, the development work on all four projectiles has been completed as ten Indian companies have been fully integrated into the supply chain. The production can start immediately and the army may get the supply whenever it wants. A Reliance Infrastructure spokesperson said that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) is most likely to place orders worth Rs 10,000 crore over the next 10 years. The Indian Army has projected to increase its expenditure from Rs 7,000 crore in 2023 to Rs 12,000 crore per year by 2032. 

New ammunition plant 

Reliance Infrastructure may also enter the export market and hopes to export ammunition worth Rs 10,000 crore over the next decade. The Anil Ambani company also plans to set up a greenfield explosives and ammunition manufacturing facility in Ratnagiri, Maharashtra. This ammunition factory may be set up in the Dhirubhai Ambani Defence City, with an investment of Rs 5,000 crore.