And that's why we need to allow private sector in small arms. OFB for decades has enjoyed a monopoly and hence they have become useless.An alarmed ministry has now asked the forces to import bullets through a global tender for immediate needs.
The nine-lakh strong paramilitary forces guarding India’s borders, fighting Maoists in jungles, and responding to situations such as the Pathankot terror attack face a massive shortage of ammunition for their weapons.
The scarcity of 9 mm bullets — the primary ammunition used by these forces in close combat — has meant there aren’t enough available for firing practice, and rationed supplies for actual combat.
According to figures available with The Sunday Express, the shortfall of 9 mm bullets in 2016-17 is likely to be over 75% — against a demand of 9.3 crore bullets for paramilitary and state police forces, the Ordnance Factories Board (OFB) has agreed to supply only 2.3 crore.
“Even the current assurance of supply has come after much prodding by the home ministry. OFB was earlier committing to supply only 75 lakh bullets,” a senior home ministry official said.
An alarmed ministry has now asked the forces to import bullets through a global tender for immediate needs, and to set up factories to manufacture their own bullets to cater to the long-term demand.
9 mm bullets are used in service revolvers (used in close combat), carbines (that constable-level policemen carry), and for target practice. Their operational utility is the most crucial for the counter-terror National Security Guard (NSG), whose Black Cat commandos use small arms in close combat situations.
Home ministry sources said the problem had arisen because of the expansion of the police forces, the limited capacity of OFB to manufacture 9 mm bullets, and the fact that its priority is to supply the armed forces. The problem, which has been festering for about five years, took on acute proportions about three years ago, the sources said.
As per MHA figures, in 2014-15, OFB could supply only 2.4 crore bullets, or 42 per cent of the demand of 5.67 crore bullets. In 2015-16, the demand-supply gap widened — OFB supplied 1.5 crore bullets, just a fifth of the 7.5 crore demand. Home ministry sources said OFB’s increased commitment from 75 lakh to 2.3 crore in the current year is based on converting other ammunition into 9 mm rounds.
Worst hit are the state police forces, but the paramilitary forces are suffering too. There is rationing based on operational areas and needs, and training has been severely affected.
A senior officer of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, which guards the Sino-Indian border, said that in many units, personnel have been getting only half the number of bullets required for target practice, and “some units are not even practising, actually”.
Sources in the NSG revealed the crack force was getting a tenth of its demand for 9 mm bullets.
On the situation in the states, a senior Bihar Police officer said, “Officers are expected to fire at least 70 rounds for practice annually. That has halved.”
Several paramilitary chiefs have raised the issue with Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi in recent meetings, following which the home ministry has asked the BSF to explore if it can set up a 9 mm bullet manufacturing unit at its training centre in Tekanpur, Madhya Pradesh.
“BSF is studying the possibility and will inform the ministry in due course. But that’s the long-term plan. In the short term, we have asked the forces to import,” a senior home ministry official said.
source: http://indianexpress.com/article/in...rces-75-per-cent-ammunition-shortage-2890466/
Last edited:
