STRENGTHENING SEA SURVEILLANCE
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh commissioned the vessel, which is to be stationed at Visakhapatnam, to be deployed by the Indian Coast Guard for coastal and offshore patrolling and anti-piracy operations
OPVs are long-range surface ships, OPVs are force multipliers with chopper operating capability
ICG uses them for maritime surveillance
It carries 4 highspeed boats for boarding ops, search and rescue
The Vigraha is built under the ‘Make in India’ initiative
Armed with 40/60 Bofors gun, two 12.7 mm stabilised remote control gun
Indian Coast Guard has always been ready to extend “help our neighbouring countries” in line with its spirit of inclusiveness, he noted adding such challenging times also give India an opportunity of which we should take advantage of
CHENNAI: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said the country has “great scope” to become an indigenous ship-building hub while pointing out that the Centre has introduced policies to help the domestic industry become world-class.
Commissioning the Indian Coast Guard Ship (ICGS) ‘Vigraha’, Singh said in the next two years, the expenditure on security around the world will reach $2.1 trillion.
“Most countries do not even have this level of budget for a whole year. And it is expected to increase manifold in the next five years. In such a situation, today we have great scope to make full use of our capabilities, take advantage of policies, and move towards making the country an indigenous shipbuilding hub.”
“I am happy to say that considering these possibilities, the government has already brought out such policies which helps our domestic industry, be it public or private sector entity, to become world-class players,” Singh said.
On ICGS Vigraha, he said, “from its design conception to development, the ship is completely indigenous.”
Further, for the first time in the history of Indian defence, a contract for not one or two, but seven vessels has been signed with a private sector company, Larsen and Toubro Ltd, he noted.
The Defence Minister also delved into the emerging challenges in the Indian Ocean, a region that has been witnessing increasing rivalry between India and China.
“Changes happening around the world often become a matter of concern for us. We, as a nation, must keep our guards high during these times of uncertainties and upheavals around the world,” the defence minister said with elaborating further.
His comments came in the backdrop of increasing concerns in the Indian security establishment over the possibility of terror spillover from Afghanistan into Jammu and Kashmir through Pakistan and rise in terrorist activities, particularly by groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed.