This story is from July 26, 2014

'No time frame to complete Rajgir ordnance factory'

The foundation for setting up an ordnance factory at Rajgir was laid in 1999.The project was originally sanctioned by the government in 2001.
'No time frame to complete Rajgir ordnance factory'
PATNA: No time frame has been fixed by the government to complete the construction of ordnance factory at Rajgir in Nalanda district because of uncertainties in procurement/fabrication of bi-modular charge system (BMCS) plants through indigenous route, minister of state for defence Rao Inderjit Singh informed Ramchandra Prasad Singh in the Rajya Sabha recently.

The foundation for setting up an ordnance factory at Rajgir was laid in 1999. The project was originally sanctioned by the government in 2001. The offers received in response to global tenders for various plants required for production were found to be much higher than the estimated cost, the minister said in a written reply. Hence, the ministry of defence decided to put the project on hold and appointed an expert committee for its review.
After examining the report of the expert Committee, it was decided in July, 2007, to go ahead with the project. Accordingly, revised sanction of the project cost was approved by the government in February, 2009 with project completion period being 30 months.
According to Union minister, CBI investigation started in May, 2009 against M/s Israeli Military Industry (IMI), Israel, due to the vendor's misconduct relating to illegal gratification. M/s IMI has been debarred from dealing with ministry of defence for a period of ten years.
Consequent to cancellation of contract with M/s IMI for supply of BMCS plants, it has been planned to create complete manufacturing facilities at the ordnance factory for BMCS by procurement/fabrication of all the five plants for BMCS indigenously. The amount spent for the factory up to May 31, 2014, is Rs 910.72 crore, he said. A project monitoring board at the level of the ministry of defence and a steering committee at all levels of Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) have been put in place to monitor the progress of the project.
According to official sources, work was started after sanction of the project in November 2001. The project was kept in abeyance from June, 2005 to June, 2006. In the meantime, OFB submitted a proposal for revision of the project cost due to escalation and cost overrun. Accordingly, the revision was sanctioned in February 2009 with the completion period being August 5, 2011.
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