Shri Rajnath Singh, the Raksha Mantri, visited the Bhanur Unit of Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) in Telangana on 02 July 2022, and dedicated to the Nation a number of new manufacturing facilities set up by the Defence Public Sector Undertaking (DPSU). These include a Warhead facility at the Bhanur Unit and a Radio Frequency (RF) Seeker facility at the Kanchanbagh Unit.
In his address to BDL staff, Raksha Mantri said the inauguration of the manufacturing facility was a testament to the DPSU’s commitment to strengthening the defense sector and achieving Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s vision of “Aatmanirbhar Bharat.”. He also hailed BDL for its commitment to self-reliance by manufacturing its own products in collaboration with foreign partners, which is in line with his “Make in India, Make for the World” vision. He congratulated the company for preparing an indigenisation plan for the next five years and for hitting the first two years’ targets.
The RF Seeker Facility, which Raksha Mantri virtually inaugurated, is an integrated centre for producing and testing RF seekers. Tracking target with Seeker is a critical and technology-intensive subsystem in all future missiles. BDL built this with an investment of Rs 50 crore. Shri Rajnath Singh congratulated BDL for joining an elite club of companies around the world that can produce seekers. In the field of missile production, he said he hoped the facility would play a big part in achieving ‘Aatmanirbharta’.
Rajnath Singh was confident that the Warhead facility would diversify the scope of manufacturing futuristic warheads and make India self-sufficient. With the inauguration of this facility, BDL has taken one more step toward self-sufficiency, since the facility will be used for current and future missiles.
Speaking on the constantly evolving nature of technology and its growing significance in warfare in changing times, Raksha Mantri emphasized on the need to stay up to date on the technological front with indigenous capabilities. Defense equipment stakeholders – the Armed Forces, scientists, academicians, and industry – have been urged to develop products/systems while adapting to ever-changing conditions. He emphasized forecasting technology and investing in cutting-edge manufacturing and testing. The inauguration of RF Seeker Facility and Warhead Facility is a good step forward.
Raksha Mantri stressed the importance of developing long-term partnerships between defence manufacturing companies and academic institutions, moving from ‘Know-how’ to ‘Know-why’. He says this long-term collaboration will help academia work on core technological problems and assist R&D institutions to move from ‘theoretical analysis’ to ‘conversion into actual products’. This will be a win-win situation and give a boost to our defense eco-system, I’ve said.
Shri Rajnath Singh also virtually inaugurated a Central Storage facility at BDL’s Visakhapatnam Unit. Our state-of-the-art facility is equipped with a modern storage system that consists of a vertical carousel, mechanical compactor, and motorised compactor that can take care of all our storage needs. An investment of Rs 4.90 crore was made to build the facility.
Raksha Mantri also inaugurated infrastructure facilities (Multipurpose Community Hall, Gym, Science Laboratories at Govt Junior College, nine additional classrooms at Zilla Parishad School, two more classrooms at elementary school) constructed by BDL in Military Madhavaram village, West Godavari District. Madhavaram village, which is near Tedepaligudem, is known as ‘Military Madhavaram’ because so many people join the military there. BDL, as a DPSU, adopted this village as part of its CSR program and built infrastructure at a cost of Rs 4.5 crore. Mahatma Gandhi’s statue was also unveiled by Shri Rajnath Singh on the BDL grounds.