New Delhi: The seven defence public sector undertakings carved out of the previous Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) have completed five years of operations on October 1, marking five years since the government transformed the country's traditional ordnance-factory structure into corporatised defence manufacturing entities.
The seven companies — Munitions India Limited (MIL), Armoured Vehicles Nigam Limited (AVNL), Advanced Weapons and Equipment India Limited (AWEIL), Troop Comforts Limited (TCL), Yantra India Limited (YIL), India Optel Limited (IOL) and Gliders India Limited (GIL) — commenced business on October 1, 2021. The government had split the OFB's 41 production units among the seven companies with the stated objectives of increasing functional autonomy, efficiency, innovation and competitiveness in defence manufacturing.
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Five years on, the restructuring has been accompanied by a broader push towards higher production, exports, indigenisation and greater financial autonomy for the successor companies. Four of the seven — MIL, AVNL, IOL and YIL — have now received Miniratna Category-I status. YIL became the fourth of the seven to receive the status in February 2026, after recording substantial growth in sales and exports.
YIL's transformation provides one measurable example of the post-corporatisation trajectory. Its sales increased from ₹956.32 crore in the second half of FY2021-22 to ₹3,108.79 crore in FY2024-25, while its exports rose from zero in the second half of FY2021-22 to ₹321.77 crore in FY2024-25, according to the Ministry of Defence. The company has also expanded its focus into areas such as advanced metallurgy, carbon-fibre composites and components for ammunition, artillery guns and armoured vehicles.
The wider production numbers also point to a significant increase in output from the former OFB ecosystem. According to the Ministry of Defence, production by the erstwhile OFB network rose from ₹12,755 crore in FY2019-20 to ₹26,282 crore in FY2025-26 after corporatisation. Exports increased from ₹81 crore to ₹4,561 crore over the same comparison period.
The seven companies now cover critical segments of India's defence-industrial base. MIL manufactures ammunition and explosives, AVNL focuses on armoured fighting vehicles, AWEIL produces guns and small arms, TCL supplies troop-comfort products, YIL manufactures components and engineering products, IOL specialises in electro-optics, while GIL focuses on parachutes and related systems.
The restructuring has also coincided with a wider expansion of India's indigenous defence-production ecosystem. India's overall defence production reached a record ₹1.78 lakh crore in FY2025-26, while defence exports touched ₹38,424 crore, with Indian defence products being exported to more than 80 countries.
The government's focus is now shifting from simply increasing production to improving the technological and global competitiveness of DPSUs. During his September 2026 annual performance review of the 16 DPSUs, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh called for greater emphasis on timely delivery, self-reliance, exports and global-standard quality. Across all 16 DPSUs, turnover reached ₹1.29 lakh crore in FY2025-26, while cumulative profit after tax stood at ₹23,136 crore.
For the seven companies born out of the OFB restructuring, the fifth anniversary therefore comes at a point when their role is moving beyond the traditional ordnance-factory model. The next phase will centre on scaling production, expanding exports, modernising manufacturing capacity and developing technologies that can strengthen India's broader defence-industrial ecosystem.
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