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Spare No Expense: Indian Navy Set to Boost Maritime Preparedness

© AFP 2023 / Sebastian D'SOUZAIndian Navy Personel secure the mooring ropes of INS Trishul, a Second Talwar Class Stealth Frigate,as she comes alongside the docks at the Naval Dockyard in Bombay, 23 September 2003
Indian Navy Personel secure the mooring ropes of INS Trishul, a Second Talwar Class Stealth Frigate,as she comes alongside the docks at the Naval Dockyard in Bombay, 23 September 2003 - Sputnik International
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Raising serious concern over India's current state of maritime preparedness, the Indian Navy has nudged the Government to increase expenditure on strengthening its fleet of ships submarines and aircraft. This opens immense opportunities for foreign defense firms to collaborate with Indian manufacturers in equipping the Indian Navy.

Sputnik (New Delhi) — The Indian Navy's second in command, Vice Admiral P. Murugesan has said that India will be able to establish robust maritime security only when the Navy is equipped with at least 50 more ships and submarines and increases the current availability of helicopters and aircraft by 3-4 times.  

"Threat does not see the budget. While the threat is growing steadily, the budget (for defense procurement) is growing slowly," Murugesan said.

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Vice Admiral Murugesan's statement is being viewed as immensely significant as it came just ahead of the Naval Commanders' Conference that got underway in the capital city New Delhi today. According to a statement of the Indian Defense Ministry, "the conference will primarily focus on reviewing the combat readiness and operational preparedness of the Navy including coastal security, to address the dynamic security challenges in the Indian Ocean Region."

Currently, India has 138 submarines and ships. Another 46 ships are under construction at different dockyards within the country. According to Defense Ministry sources, half of the ships, currently operational, are going to be retired soon. Even if we add the under-construction ships to the current strength, the number will be far less that what is actually required. To meet the requirement of ships alone, Indian Navy will require a fund of more than $20 billion. 

The Indian Army is also facing a serious crunch of helicopters and aircraft.

"Today there are 233 aircraft in the Indian navy. Ideally, this should increase by 3-4 times. Once we reach there, then only will we be able to make sure a robust maritime security mechanism has been established," according to Vice Admiral Murugesan.

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A. K. Gupta, Secretary, Department of Defense Production, says that from 2014 till date, procurement proposals of naval ships and equipment worth approximately $30.1 billion have been approved by the authorities. However, 88 percent of the proposed procurements are to be made through indigenous vendors according to the new Defense Procurement Policy.

Though the Indian Navy relies on indigenous vendors for most of its needs, in the most expensive weapons category, indigenization is less than 30 percent as Indian vendors currently lack the capacity to independently design, develop and produce such weapons. Therefore, they will have to collaborate with foreign Original Equipment Manufacturers. This has opened the gates for foreign weapons manufacturers to mint handsome money by entering into collaborations with Indian firms. 

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