Explainer: Tie-up with MSME ministry to boost research and manufacturing in Army Base Workshops
Army Base Workshops were established during the Second World War to carry out repairs and overhauls of weapons, vehicles, and equipment to keep the Army operationally ready
“The objective of the MoU is to promote cooperation in research & manufacturing in technologies like Advanced Multi-Axis Machining, Additive manufacturing (3D Printing), Drone Technology, Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), Cloud Computing and 5G for data analysis by leveraging upon strength and expertise of respective institutes and workshops,” the Army said on its X-handle.
What are Army Base Workshops
Army Base Workshops (ABWs) were established during the Second World War to carry out repairs and overhauls of weapons, vehicles, and equipment to keep the Army operationally ready. In order to ensure the battle worthiness of the Army at all times, overhaul of weapons and equipment has to be a well-planned and comprehensively executed activity, to neutralise the effects of age, usage, and restoration of the weapon systems and equipment to ‘zero hour, zero kilometer’ operational condition.
The Master General of Sustenance (MGS), a Principal Staff Officer of the rank of Lieutenant at Army Headquarters who reports directly to the Chief of the Army Staff, is responsible for ensuring high state availability of weapons, ammunition, equipment, vehicles, and stores to the Army during war and peace.
The MGS is assisted by the Director General of Electronics and Mechanical Engineering (DG EME), the Director General of Ordnance Services (DG OS), Additional Director General Equipment Management (ADG EM), and Additional Director General Procurement (ADG Proc). The Base Workshop Group (BWG) assists DG EME and exercises overall control over the ABWs. The BWG is responsible for the preparation of the Long Range Perspective Plan, the utilisation of resources available with ABWs, the quality checks of overhauled equipment, and the allocation and redistribution of manpower within the ABWs.
There are eight AWS spread across the country that function under the Corps of EME, of which seven are responsible for the repair and overhaul of equipment and weapons, and one is mandated with the task of indigenisation and manufacture of spares. These are:
505 ABW at Delhi for repair of T-72 tanks, including engines, Scania vehicles, and AM-50 bridging system.
506 ABW at Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh) for the repair of small arms and mortars
507 ABW Kankinara (West Bengal) for the repair of Scania and Kraz vehicles
508 ABW Allahabad (Uttar Pradesh) for the repair of Tatra and Scania vehicles
509 ABW Agra (Uttar Pradesh) for repair and overhaul of communication systems, radars, optical, including various sights and other electronic equipment, and power equipment like generators
510 ABW Meerut (Uttar Pradesh) for repair and overhaul of air defence weapon systems, individual weapons, guns, specialist vehicles, and engineering equipments
512 ABW Kirkee (Maharashtra) for repair and overhaul of BMP – II infantry combat vehicles and their variants, armoured recovery vehicles, and engines of all armoured fighting vehicles.
515 ABW Bengaluru (Karnataka) for indigenous manufacture of spares, manufacture of simulators for the field army, and overhaul of aviation rotables.
Technology Centres under the Ministry of MSME
Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises are the backbone of the Indian economy, having a turnover of less than Rs 250 crore per establishment. These cover both the manufacturing and service sectors, generating significant employment and making important contributions to exports, industrialisation, and the overall GDP.
MSMEs are vital to India's economy, with about 630 lakh units contributing around 30 percent of the GDP, 45 percent of manufacturing, and 40 percent of exports, according to government figures. They employ over 25 crore people.
The Technology Centres have been established to provide access to advanced manufacturing technologies, design and fabrication of precision tools, skill development for technical professionals, and consultancy services.
General engineering, automation, hand tools, plastics, auto parts, electrical and electronics, forging and foundry, sports goods, leather and footwear are among the sectors covered by these centres, which are located close to industrial hubs and manufacturing bases all over the country.
The Scope for Indigenisation
In its year-end report for 2025, the Ministry of Defence stated that the annual defence production soared to a record high figure of Rs1.51 lakh crore in 2024-25. The milestone represents a robust 18 percent growth over the previous fiscal year’s output of Rs 1.27 lakh crore, and a staggering 90 percent increase since the 2019-20 financial year, when the figure was Rs 79,071 crore.
Defence Public Sector Undertakings and other PSUs accounted for approx 77 percent of the total production, while the private sector, which includes MSMEs, contributed 23 percent. The share of the private sector, which increased from 21 percent in 2023-24 to 23 percent in FY 2024-25, reflects the sector's growing role in the defence ecosystem of the country. A target has been set to increase defence manufacturing to Rs 3 lakh crore by 2029, the ministry said.
Defence exports, in which MSMEs too have a role, touched an all-time high figure of Rs 23,622 crore in 2024-25, marking a growth of 12.04 percent over the previous fiscal, out of which the private sector’s contribution in 2024-25 was Rs 15,209 crore or almost 65 percent. The defence exports target for 2029 has been set to Rs 50,000 crore.
How the tie-up will benefit the Indian Army
The Army not only has a huge inventory of weapons, vehicles, and equipment procured from Indian and foreign sources, but is also engaged in developing, fabricating, and modifying some systems in-house. Various types of drones, engineering equipment, tools, simulators, and training aids are among them.
The Technology Centres, which specialise in advanced tooling, training and prototyping, can not only help develop tailor-made strategies, procedures and technologies to meet the Army’s unique needs, but spin-offs from work done for the civilian domain can provide efficient solutions for the Army’s technical requirements.
These centres can also assist in training the Army’s engineers and technicians, exposing them to contemporary management concepts, modern industrial practices, and adapting newer technologies, particularly harnessing dual-use technology.
This can help AWS modernise and streamline its maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) processes for equipment, reducing reliance on imports and cutting down on delays. There have been several reports by the Comptroller and Auditor General in the past, flagging production delays and procedural irregularities.
