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Briefing a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Defence and Defence Production at the complex in Wah on Wednesday, POF Chairman Lt-Gen Shujaat Zameer Dar said the orders had to be turned down because of shortage of raw material and lack of funds.
The POF had earned record revenue of $500 million in 2008 and had secured orders for supply of arms and ammunition for 2010.
Asked what went wrong with the POF, Lt-Gen Dar told Dawn that it would be against the national interest to go into details of the financial crunch.
Sources, however, said that one of the main reasons for the crisis was over staffing. The POF management had decided to sack its contractual employees last month, but because of protests it had to abandon the plan.
The POF is the sole supplier of ordnance in the country and produces about 70 major products for the army, navy and air force. Its main products include automatic rifles, light, medium and heavy machine guns, a wide range of mortar and artillery ammunition, aircraft and anti-aircraft ammunition, tank and anti-tank ammunition, bombs, grenades, landmines, pyrotechnics and signal products.
Besides meeting demands of the defence forces, the complex sells its products to over 40 countries in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the Americas.
The POF also produces commercial explosives and hunting ammunition and possesses extensive facilities for the manufacture of brass, copper and aluminium ingots. The complex's advanced garments factory manufactures military uniforms and also caters to the needs of the civil sector.
The Senate body was informed that the complex had 24 units. Lt-Gen Dar said he wanted every unit to independently maintain its economic viability.
He said that 14 of the units were of commercial nature, producing basic material for the industry. However, he said, these units were currently not fully functional because of the ongoing recession in the economy.
He said that 60 per cent of machineries in the complex were more than 30 years old and a substantial amount was needed to improve the system and make the complex efficient.
The Senate committee, headed by Lt-Gen (retd) Javed Ashraf, assured the POF chief that the government would try to meet the complex's financial needs. The committee asked the POF not to make any new appointments, except for technical and essential positions.
The committee said it would request Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to visit the complex. It also stressed the need for giving autonomy to the POF under a 1961 Ordinance.
