FRESH EFFORTS TO BUY 12 MINESWEEPERS

The government will embark on a new effort this month to buy the muchneeded 12 advanced minesweepers for the Navy.

“We will issue fresh EoI ( expression of interest) for the project very soon. It will be issued this month,” chairman of staterun Goa Shipyard Ltd Rear Admiral Shekhar Mital ( Retd) told PTI. The EoI is expected to be issued to a number of major foreign defence majors.

The new effort has been necessitated after the

◗ The new effort has been necessitated after the negotiations for the 32k- cr project ` between the Goa Shipyard & the South Korean Kangnam Corporation failed

negotiations for the ` 32,000- crore project between the Goa Shipyard and the South Korean Kangnam Corporation failed reportedly over a host of issues, including terms and conditions for technology transfer.

The Navy badly needs the minesweepers or mine counter- measure vessels to guard India’s critical sea lanes in the backdrop of China’s growing naval might in the Indian Ocean region.

According to original understanding, the Goa Shipyard and the Kangam Corporation were to build 12 minesweepers in India under the Make in India initiative and the deliveries were to be completed within nine years of the start of the project.

However, both sides struggled to finalise various key aspects of the project.