The decision is based on recommendations by CoE constituted to recommend measures to enhance combat capability and rebalance the defence expenditure of the armed forces
BANGALORE: For the first time, the ministry of defence (MoD) has decided to allow private firms to manage and operate all the Army Base Workshops (ABWs) spread across eight cities in six states, including in Delhi, Kolkata, Pune and Bangalore, and the associated station workshops.
In what is being called the "GOCO (Government-Owned Contractor-Managed) Model", private firms will not even be required to make any investment in land, equipment, machinery or the support system, all of which will be made readily available, internal communications and orders issued by the MoD and Integrated Headquarters (IHQ) accessed by TOI reveal.
The decision is based on recommendations by a committee of experts (CoE) constituted to recommend measures to enhance combat capability and rebalance the defence expenditure of the armed forces, and is in line with PM Narendra Modi's initiatives to enhance private participation in defence.
Explaining the concept, one MoD communication reads: "The government will provide land, infrastructure, plant and machinery, equipment system support, oversight and facilitate the contractor... The contractor operates and utilises the facilities available, manages all types of work and is also responsible to get required licences, certifications and accreditations to deliver mutually agreed targets and maintains the plant machinery and services integral to the venture."
The ABWs were established during World War II to keep the Indian Army operationally ready and ensure battle worthiness at all times. They are responsible for overhaul — to restore equipment readiness and neutralise the effects of age and usage by stripping the complete equipment and reassembling it by changing worn-out or damaged parts, repairing, and replacing assemblies which have outlived their lives — and to ensure "Zero Hour, Zero Kilometre-Restoration," which means making the weapon system as near to new as possible.
There are eight ABWs, one each in New Delhi, Jabalpur, Kankinara, Allahabad, Agra, Meerut, Kirkee and Bangalore, of which seven are responsible for repair and overhaul of equipment or weapons, and one, the 515 ABW in Bengaluru, is tasked with indigenisation and manufacture of spares. On December 18, the Directorate General of Electronics and Mechanical Engineering shot off a letter to 512 ABW informing the employees that "...Corporatisation of ABWs on GOCO Model is being implemented based on MoD directions issued by the MoD on September 7, 2017."
Similar letters have been sent to other ABWs, too, who have been told to "...implement the instructions and initiate necessary action". The ministry has already begun looking for competent industry partners to run these workshops. Employees at the ABWs, however, say they have no clarity on the matter yet, and that everything is kept secret.