Soon, a private company could be manufacturing over 1,000 rockets annually for use by the Indian Army.

In what could be a significant boost to the private sector, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has informed about the successful trials of indigenously developed and manufactured enhanced range Pinaka rockets at Balasore and Pokhran firing ranges in the past few weeks, news agency ANI reported.

DRDO-developed Enhanced Range Pinaka rockets' user trials conducted at Balasore&Pokhran in past few weeks. In success for Make in India in defence,manufacturers incl Munitions India Ltd&Economic Explosives Ltd met user requirements at trials' completion

(Video:Defence Officials) pic.twitter.com/Pl1U2MOJf0— ANI (@ANI) August 29, 2022

The Pinaka rockets have a range of over 45 km which is higher than legacy rockets that can hit targets within 37 km. According to sources, the Army test-fired more than 120 rockets to validate all technical requirements, Economic Times reported.

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The rockets, built by state-owned Munitions India Limited (MIL), passed the trials along with the munitions manufactured by Nagpur-based Economic Explosives Limited (EEL) meeting all user requirements. They have been developed by DRDO with technology being shared with the industry.

This is the first time that the defence sector has accepted rockets produced by the private sector for service since defence manufacturing was opened to non-governmental players in May 2021.

The success of the trials will progressively help replace imports from Russia and open up the scope of export to friendly nations. The Army, which requires 1,000 rockets of this class annually, is also expected to procure these indigenous rockets, with the order being divided between EEL and MIL.

"The project showcases that the private sector can deliver when it comes to the Atmanirbhar Bharat vision," Satyanarayan Nuwal, chairman of EEL, told Economic Times.

Till now, the defence sector has been importing munitions of this class or manufacturing them at public sector undertakings. However, they were short of meeting the annual requirements of the armed forces. As a result, the Army has been looking for alternate sources of munitions to reduce its dependency on state-owned units. At the same time, the Indian Army stands to gain from the prices of privately manufactured munitions of different varieties which are estimated to be significantly cheaper than the prices offered by state-owned units.

Solar Industries (India) Limited, the parent company of EEL, reported a 60 percent growth in profit after tax from Rs 276 crore in FY 2020-21 to Rs 441 crore in FY 2021-22. The company’s order book value stood at Rs 2,982 crore (on a consolidated basis) as on March 31, 2022. It witnessed a 22 percent increase in sales of explosives to 4,06,372 MT in FY 2021-22 against 3,33,082 MT in FY 2020-21.

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(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)