Over 30 top machine tools companies have made presentations to the general managers of the various ordnance factories and senior OFB officials to sensitize them of the benefits of changing the machines and to the extent they can support the retooling programme, highly-placed sources in the machine tools industry said.

The presentations were made in Calcutta and Bangalore in July and August under the aegis of Indian Machine Tools Manufacturers Association (IMTMA).The companies which made presentations included Hindustan Machine Tools (HMT), Beco Engineering (Mukand group company), Laxmi Machine Works, Lokesh Machine Works, Praga Tools, PSE Machines, Bharat Fritz Werner (BFW), Widia and Ace Design. Over the years,public sector undertaking HMT has been the largest supplier of machine tools for the defence sector requirements.

OFB is now in the last stages of firming up its shopping list. The process of tendering and bidding is likely to begin soon after and the entire programme will be undertaken in phases, sources in the OFB said.

Though ordnance factories have been replacing the machines from time to time, this is the first time it is done with such an urgency and a large-scale retooling initiative is being launched in a planned manner. OFB is also believed to be keen to out-source manufacturing in certain areas, rather than invest itself. Hence, the machine tools companies have their hopes pinned on an early start of the exercise.

The initial phase of modernization and automation is expected to cost anywhere between Rs 200 to 300 crore, to be allocated out of the budget provision for the defence ministry. However, the entire programme will be spread over next few years.

``Most of the machines in thesefactories are conventional, quite old and inefficient and need to be replaced with computer numerically controlled (CNC) machines to increase our productivity and maintain the cutting edge for the armed forces,'' a senior OFB official admitted, while confirming the plan. The programme will cover about 20 engineering factories where metal-cutting and metal-forming equipment is required, sources said. The factories include those manufacturing equipment for the strategic as well as non-strategic areas of the defence sector. Ordnance factories in Avadi, Chennai and Calcutta are likely to figure in the list. The number of companies signed for sourcing of tools will depend upon the clear identification of the requirements which are still being worked out, according to sources.

CNC machines with a flexibility in operation to change from one product range and type to another is what the ordnance factories require most. Hence, while the total number of machines may not be very large, these will be the top-end,expensive machines.