Kolkata, Mar 8 (PTI) The Ordnance Factory Board is focussing on cost reduction and energy conservation to be competitive in manufacturing ammunition for the Indian armed forces and police.

“We are focussing on energy conservation and cost reduction to be competitive. We have significantly cut material costs through energy conservation,” OFB chairman P K Misra said here today.

Speaking at a seminar on energy efficiency organised by the Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management (IISWBM), he said OFB faced some challenge when ammunition was cheaply available in the global market after the collapse of the erstwhile USSR.

“This posed a challenge for us, but also gave an opportunity to enhance efficiency. We took measures to cut down our costs through measures like energy conservation, which reduced our water consumption significantly,” he said.

Efch Niehe, the Ambassador of the Netherlands, who visited the IISWBM, stressed on the need for energy conservation saying it was of immense importance for his country, where half of the land area lay below sea level.

He also called for enhanced use of renewable energy to meet energy demands.

IISWBM director Prof. A K Dutta said the institute, which is also the first India chapter of the international Association of Energy Engineers, has bagged the best community service and best student chapter awards last year.