CURTAIN RAISER

CURTAIN RAISER

Three landmark events are scheduled during the visit of Hon’ble Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh to Mumbai on 28 September 2019. Commissioning of the 2nd of P-75 submarine ‘Khanderi’, launch of first of the seven P-17A ships ‘Nilgiri’, the follow-on of Shivalik class and  commissioning of the Aircraft Carrier Drydock, capable of dry docking Vikramaditya as well as IAC –I. These three events will enhance the combat potential, reach and sustenance of Indian Navy to accomplish the philosophy of mission based deployments, enhanced foot print and increasing foreign cooperation endeavours. They will further strengthen the role of the Navy as first responder and security provider in the region of Indian Ocean and beyond, in line with Hon’ble PM’s vision of ‘SAGAR’ which stands for ‘Security And Growth for All in the Region’.

The Government has announced plans to make India a 5 trillion Dollar economy by 2024. Ship-building is a sector that can contribute significantly to achieve this aim and Indian Navy’s arduous journey from a ‘Buyers Navy’ to a ‘Builders Navy’ is contributing a Lions’ share towards attaining the goal. Any ship or submarine building activity is a huge challenge and there are many MSME’s and others who are involved in ensuring successful completion of construction. 49 out of the 51 Naval ships which are under construction are with Indian shipyards. This leads to huge plough-back effect of the capital expenditure that Navy spends in any ship building project into the Indian economy. The skill generation, job creation, etc, all of which is the present Government’s policy under the overarching policy of ‘Make in India’, are being met by the IN.

The Hon’ble RM after commissioning of ‘Khanderi’ and launch of ‘Nilgiri’ by Mrs Savitri Singh, the wife of Hon’ble RM, will inaugurate the dry dock and thereafter spend a day at sea with the Navy on board INS Vikramiditya, from PM 28 to AM 29 September 2019. He will witness various Naval operations including missile firing.