Months after the corporatization of the Ordnance Factory Board(OFB), six out of the seven defence companies, have reported provisional profits, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said here on Friday.

Moreover, the new companies recorded a turnover of more than Rs 8,400 crore and secured local contracts worth over Rs ,000 crore and export orders worth Rs 600 crore, the Defence Ministry said on Friday.

The seven companies were carved out of the OFB on October15 last year and have reported provisional profits during the initial six months of their operations. The Government in a major reform initiative had on June 16 last year approved a long-pending proposal to restructure the nearly 200-year-old OFB that operates 41 ammunition and defence equipment production facilities into seven separate corporate entities to improve its accountability, efficiency and competitiveness. The seven defence companies were dedicated to the nation on October 15 last year.

"It is heartening to note that six out of the seven new defence companies have reported provisional profits during the initial six months of their business growth," Rajnath said on Twitter.  These companies are scaling new heights and contributing to India's defence manufacturing, he added.

In a statement, the defence ministry said Munitions India Limited, Armoured Vehicles Nigam Limited, Advanced Weapons and Equipment India Limited, Troop Comforts Limited, India Optel Limited and Gliders India Limited have reported provisional profits of Rs 28 crore, Rs 33.09 crore, Rs 4.84 crore, Rs 26 crore, Rs 60.44 crore and Rs 1.32crore, respectively.

Yantra India Limited has not reported provisional profits for theperiod from October 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022, it mentioned, adding that it reported a loss of Rs 111.49 crore in this time period.

"An amount of Rs 2,765.95 crore has been released to the seven new companies during the current financial year for capital expenditure and equity," it stated. Within the first six months, these new companies have achieved the turnover of more than Rs 8,400 crore, the statement said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had inaugurated the seven new firms on the occasion of Dussehra in October and said the entities will play a critical role in helping the country cut down military imports in line with the “Aatmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India)” vision.

The average six-monthly losses for these companies three years prior to the OFB’s corporatisation stood at  Rs 5.67 crore, Rs 164.33 crore, Rs 677.33 crore, Rs 138.17 crore, Rs 398.5 crore and Rs 43.67 crore.

These new entities have also initiated various measures towards optimal utilisation of their resources and cost reduction. With focused attention on cost reduction, these companies have been able to make cumulative savings of 9.48% in areas like overtime and non-production activities during the initial six months itself, the defence ministry said.