India's indigenous Akash advanced air defence system has great export potential 

Total production of defence public sector undertakings and Ordnance Factory Boards last year was about Rs 58,800 crore of which Rs 14,000 crore was imports

The Defence Ministry has simplified the procedures to allow Ordnance Factories increase their export contribution, defence (production) secretary Ajay Kumar said today.

"Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) has taken up steps to enter newer markets. A member has been designated responsible for exports.

We have also decided to simplify the export permissions for Ordnance Factory Board enabling much more exports," Kumar said at a function in the Ordnance Factory at Avadi, 35 km from here.

There were several countries seeking OFB products, he said.

"You (Ordnance Factory Boards) can export, supply and create more market..the time has come for you (OFBs) to look at the world as your market", he said, adding that there was "huge opportunity" overseas.

Giving some statistics, he said, "total production of defence public sector undertakings and Ordnance Factory Boards last year was about Rs 58,800 crore of which Rs 14,000 crore was imports."

As part of encouraging defence public sector undertakings on 'IPs' (Intellectual Property rights), he said it has been decided to train nearly 10,000 people across defence PSUs, OFBs over the next one year on how the IP process functions.

Kumar said some OFBs have not applied for IP rights and advised them to do so.

He also urged OFBs andt Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises to meet regularly and sort out differences,if any. "There are about 4,500 MSMEs which form part of the OFB ecosystem," he added.