Underlining the vision of the Indian Navy, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Wednesday expressed the commitment of the government to develop a real blue water Navy, which can dominate the Indian Ocean Region, but considered friendly by the neighbouring countries.
Commissioning INS Kochi, the second ship of the indigenously designed and constructed Project 15A of the Kolkata-class guided missile destroyers at the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai, Parrikar gave two examples to illustrate his point that of transporting drinking water to the Maldives when the latter’s water treatment plant was damaged last year, and the rescue and evacuation of nationals of over 20 countries from war-torn Yemen by the Indian Navy, without any damage to our platforms and personnel.
INS Kochi has been built by the Mazagon Dock Ltd, Mumbai.
Parrikar said there has been a renewed enthusiasm among DPSUs and the private sector in the development and production of platforms and systems for the defence forces and the government has been consistently trying to indigenise and speed-up timely deliveries. He hoped that the next Destroyer in the series will be put into water by the end of the current financial year.
Parrikar said while India has achieved significant indigenisation in ‘Float’ component of warships, but is lacking in the indigenisation of the high-end Fight components.
“To that end, the government is in the process of putting a policy in place to achieve high amount of self- reliance in the defence industry under the guidance of the Prime Minister,” he said.
The minister said the government is seized of the defence requirements and requisite financial support for the forces. He said the government will remain committed to provide the necessary funds for the future expansion and growth of the Navy.
Manwhile, Admiral RK Dhowan, the Chief of Naval Staff, said that commissioning of INS Kochi is a milestone in the self-reliance programme of the Navy and stated that the indigenisation of platforms, weapons, sensors and equipment, through public as well as private sectors, will continue to remain a focus area of the Indian Navy.
