Ordnance Factories' Day in India

The day is celebrated by displaying the rifles, guns, artillery, ammunition..etc in exhibitions all over India. Usually the exhibitions are open to all. The celebrations starts with a parade.

The Indian Ordnance Factories predate all the other organisations like the Indian Army and the Indian Railways by over a century. The first Indian ordnance factory can trace its origins back to the year 1712 when the Dutch Ostend Company established a Gun Powder Factory in Ichhapur. In 1787, another gunpowder factory was established at Ichapore; it began production in 1791, and the site was later used as a rifle factory, beginning in 1904. In 1801, Gun Carriage Agency (now known as Gun & Shell Factory, Cossipore) was established at Cossipore, Calcutta, and production began on 18 March 1802. This is the oldest ordnance factory in India still in existence.

Ordnance Factory Board, consisting of the Indian Ordnance Factories, now known as Directorate of Ordnance was an organisation, under the Department of Defence Production of Ministry of Defence, Government of India. The 41 Indian Ordnance Factories have been converted into 7 Defence Public Sector Undertakings.