From Design to Deployment: Pune Seminar Maps Complete Safety Framework for Military Explosives
Pune, 31st July 2026: The Controllerate of Quality Assurance (Military Explosives), Pune, under the Directorate General of Quality Assurance, New Delhi, Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence, Government of India, organised a National Seminar on “Military Explosives and Propellants: Safety and Compliance” in Pune.
The seminar was graced by Sanjeev Kumar, Secretary, Department of Defence Production, as the Chief Guest. Satyanarayan Nuwal, Founder & Chairman, Solar Group of Industries, attended the seminar as the Special Guest. The welcome address was delivered by N. Manoharan, Director General of Quality Assurance.
The seminar brought together distinguished policymakers, senior government officials, defence production leaders, scientists, industry experts and academicians. The distinguished delegates included Dr Garima Bhagat, Joint Secretary (Land Systems); the Chairman and Managing Director of Munitions India Limited; representatives of the explosives industries; scientists from the Defence Research and Development Organisation; and experts from leading academic institutions.
The seminar provided a national platform for deliberations on policies and institutional mechanisms for strengthening safety and compliance across the military explosives and propellants sector. The discussions focused on enhancing process safety, mitigating accidents in explosives manufacturing facilities, promoting automation, adopting advanced safety technologies and strengthening coordination among government agencies, defence public sector undertakings, private industry, research organisations and academia.
Special emphasis was placed on establishing a comprehensive safety framework covering the entire life cycle of military explosives and propellants—from design and development to manufacture, testing, transportation, storage, handling and operational use.
The seminar contributed towards the development of a policy roadmap and deliberations on the establishment of a joint working group comprising representatives from the Government, defence establishments, public and private industry, research organisations and academia. The proposed working group was envisaged to facilitate coordinated action, sharing of best practices, development of common safety protocols and continuous improvement in accident-prevention measures.
The ultimate objective of the seminar was to strengthen the national safety ecosystem and support the availability of safe, reliable and quality arms and ammunition for the Indian Armed Forces, while enabling innovation, technological advancement and responsible growth of the domestic defence industry.
Dr T. K. Varadarajan, Controller, Controllerate of Quality Assurance (Military Explosives), Pune, and Organiser of the National Seminar, proposed the vote of thanks.
The seminar reflected the Government of India’s commitment to fostering a strong culture of safety, compliance, innovation and collaboration across the military explosives and propellants sector.
