National Assembly Standing Committee on Defence Production was informed on Tuesday that Pakistan Ordinance Factories (POF) were providing 90 per cent of the ammunition required by Pakistan Armed Forces on a cost-to-cost basis.
The committee was appraised on this in a meeting held in the POF Auditorium, Wah Cantt, under the chairmanship of a member of the NA, Chaudhry Iftikhar Nazir.
POF Board Chairman, Lt Gen Sadiq Ali, briefed the committee on the organisation’s role in strengthening the defence forces and Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) through its provision of domestically-produced small arms and ammunition.
He further added that fourteen factories and 12 subsidiaries were presently functioning in the said setup of Wah Industries.
The chairman further informed that POF also exported its products to different countries and resultantly earned about Rs 8.2 billion in the financial year 2017-18. The committee appreciated the efforts undertaken by the POF’s management in this regard.
The government was strongly recommended to pay the organisation’s depreciation cost of the machinery of its industries while purchasing arms from POF. This was said to bring the premier defence production organisation in line with global industries. The committee also looked at the products displayed in POF’s hall.
Lt Gen Ali also talked about the new manufacturing projects as well as the upgradation of defence-related equipment, including a short version of G3, rifles, pistols.
He added that they had saved substantial foreign exchange by manufacturing different products for Pakistan’s armed forces within the country.
He further expressed that if this potential was tapped to its optimum, sufficient revenue could be generated.
The chairman said that POF’s Wah was working with old machinery, which needed to be upgraded to enhance production and quality.
The committee admired the performance of the workforce of the Wah Industries and recommended that the government should provide funds for the upgradation of POF’s Wah machinery on an urgent basis.
The NA body also suggested that POF’s staff should be upgraded and accommodation should be provided for them.
The committee assured for its fullest support in this regard and also invited secretaries of the establishment, housing and finance in the next meeting to resolve the issues being faced by the POF’s workforce and management.
The meeting was attended by MNAs Prince Muhammad Nawaz Allai; Imran Khattak; Niaz Ahmed Jakhar; Sajida Begum; Salahuddin; Saira Bano; Ch. Mehmood Bashir Virk; Nadeem Abbas and Syed Abrar Ali Shah.