Dhanush to be Powered by Metal from Midhani

HYDERABAD: Dubbed as India’s ‘Desi Bofors’ for its sheer power, the indigenous artillery gun ‘Dhanush’ will be getting its metal from the defence public sector undertaking Midhani in the city.

The ministry of defence (MoD) plans to equip the Indian Army with 114 ‘Dhanush’ guns. Each ‘Dhanush’ costs Rs 14.50 crore. After initial field trials in 2016, six of these towed artillery guns were handed to the Army in 2019 at the Gun Carriage Factory in Jabalpur. But subsequently the Army sought modifications which are now being carried out by the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB).
The guns with a range of 38 km are improvised indigenous versions of the FH-77B 155 mm howitzers, originally produced by Sweden’s AB Bofors, following a technology transfer.

Midhani chairman and managing director Sanjay Kumar Jha told TOI that the supply of high-strength special steel for ‘Dhanush’ would begin from Midhani to the Ordnance Factory Board once production begins.
“We have a lot of products for the Army. Right now, Dhanush is the latest weapon which has been developed in the country. A lot of components, especially high-strength special steel for the barrel of the gun, has been supplied by Midhani. The material for the components will be rolled out from the factory here,” Jha said.
Midhani has a factory within its premises at Kanchanbagh in Hyderabad which has been established with the support of the Ordnance Factory Board to meet its needs.
“Naturally, top priority will be given to supplying OFB with the required materials that go into the manufacture of ‘Dhanush’,” Jha said.

Source: ToI