India, July 11 -- PM Narendra Modi's 28 June Mann Ki Baat sets the tone for corporatisation of ordnance factories.

New Delhi: A reform prerequisite for India to become "atmanirbhar" in the field of weapons production has been put on anvil within a week of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "Mann ki Baat" of 28 June. The government on 6 July sought bids for the selection of a consultancy service agency, which will assist the Department of Defence Production in the corporatisation of the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB). This was a major reform announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on the third day of her marathon five-day press interaction in mid-May. She had stated that OFB will be corporatized and envisaged that one or more entities...