For the first time, a private sector company in India has manufactured grenades and handed over the first batch to the Indian Army in the presence of Defense Minister Rajnath Singh. These Multi-Mode Hand Grenades (MMHG) have been manufactured by Nagpur-based Economic Explosives Limited in collaboration with Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO).
This is probably the first time that ammunition for the Indian Army is being manufactured in India. The company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Solar Industries India Limited, started deliveries to the armed forces last month.
According to the company statement, the first consignment of around one lakh mmHg has already been successfully tested for quality by the users and delivered.
And to commemorate this achievement, a handing over ceremony was held on Tuesday at EEL’s 2000-acre defense manufacturing facility and a replica of the MMHG was handed over by EEL Chairman SN Nuwal to Defense Minister Rajnath Singh. Indian Army Chief General MM Naravane, Lt Gen AK Samantra, DG Infantry and Dr G Satheesh Reddy, Chairman DRDO and other senior officers were also present during the ceremony.
In October 2020, Nagpur-based EEL and the Ministry of Defense signed a contract for the supply of one million (10 lakh) modern hand grenades to the Indian Army and Air Force.
And as per the contract the delivery is spread over two years from the time of Bulk Production Clearance (BPC). This approval was given to the company in March 2021.
These are going to replace the grenade number 36 which is of the old design of World War I, and continues to this day.
Modern MMHGs have a distinctive design that is flexible during defensive (fragmentation) and offensive (stun) modes.
These carriages are highly secure for accurate delay times and reliability in use.
These have been designed by DRDO’s Terminal Ballistic Research Laboratory. And in 2016, EEL took the technology from DRDO and absorbed it while maintaining high quality in Detonix.
Extensive trials were conducted by the Indian Army and DGQA in different terrains and temperatures between 2011-18.
The Defense Ministry had issued the commercial RFP in 2019 and the contract was signed in October 2020.
The first trial of the production model was also carried out in various terrains and extreme temperatures on all parameters specified by the Infantry and DGQA.
The company statement claimed that against the GSQR requirement of 95 per cent reliability, the grenades that have been manufactured had a much better reliability of 99.8 per cent and contained 100 per cent indigenous material.
