Nagpur: After a successful test fire of the Pinaka Mk1 enhanced rockets having range of 47.5km on Wednesday, Nagpur’s Economic Explosives Limited (EEL) has cleared the first step in becoming the first private sector company to take part in the bids to supply the weapon systems to the Army. The trials took place at Balasore in Odisha. Six rockets were fired during the trials and the rockets achieved a range beyond the stipulated 47.5km, said sources.
The Pinaka rockets were designed 20 years ago by Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO).
Being a limited tender, EEL is slated to be the only private sector company to compete along with the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) for supplying the rockets. This is subject to clearing of further trials, said a management source.
In August this year, EEL, which is a 100% subsidiary of Solar Group headed by Satyanarayan Nuwal, had also successful test fired the Pinaka Mk1 rockets, that have a range of 37.5km.
A press release by ministry of defence (MOD) said the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) had cleared a proposal to buy Pinaka Mk-1 rockets from the private sector in 2017. However, the Army had put a hold on the order awaiting development of the Pinaka Mk-1 enhanced rocket at EEL.
The Army will be coming up with request for proposals for buying the rockets. If EEL’s rockets clear further tests expected in the coming months, the company will qualify to take part in the request for proposals (RFP) too, added a source.
Last month, EEL had also bagged an order to make 10 lakh multimodal hand grenades for the Army, which again is the first ever contract of its kind to a private company.
The rockets, which were test fired at Balasore, are being co-developed by EEL and DRDO. All the parameters were met during the trials, said a ministry of defence release.
Apart from higher range of 47.5km, the Pinaka Mk-1 enhanced rockets have a shelf life of 15 years as against 10 years of the Pinaka Mk1.
“The company is making all variants of Pinaka rockets at its composite manufacturing facility at Nagpur. It is also executing a design and development order for the Pinaka Guided Extended Range Rocket, a strategic game changer for the country. Pinaka rockets being produced in the private sector have already started attracting enquiries from friendly foreign countries,” the MoD release said.