RBI to announce facility for NRIs to exchange old notes
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Saturday said that it will introduce a facility for exchange of old specified…
Amidst nationwide gloom over demonetisation, continuing concerns over the situation on the western frontier, and military heartburn over the pay commission award, the commissioning of INS Chennai does offer a breath of fresh air. The most powerful of home-built warships will certainly add more punch to the fleet, enhance the blue-water image of the Indian Navy ~ often the least-recognised of the armed services. It is not the Navy’s “muscle” that impresses, but the fact that much of that muscle is indigenous.
Maybe getting the “poor cousin’s” share of the defence allocations has proved the spur, but domestic warship construction must be at the forefront of the self-reliance, or self-sufficient, exercise. And to put that into the appropriate political context, the process of indigenisation was initiated long before the “make in India” slogan was coined. In fact it was way backi n 1972 that the INS Nilgiri, a Leander Class frigate of British design, was built at Mazagon Dock ~ the same yard which “gave” the nation INS Chennai on Tuesday.
And between Nilgiri and Chennai there has been a sea-change in capabilities that have been reflected in the smaller shipyards at Garden Reach (Kolkata), Goa, Kochi and Vizag. Contrasts are never palatable, but while Indian warships do merit favourable comparison with international competition, the country still struggles with a home-designed battle tank or artillery system, while the jury remains “out” on the Tejas LCA. It is not just Chennai and its sister ships that have earned acclaim, an entire range of warships have impressed navies the world over.
Yet it would be valid to seek an explanation for India only recently sounding a fanfare over the deal for four stealth frigates from Russia. A professional analysis is needed to explain why, with an aircraft-carrier also under construction, there is need to “look aboard”. One explanation offered is that while the competence is available the work culture at domestic yards proves a drawback, the cost and time overruns take their toll. That is a situation that is most embarrassing to have to live with, more so because it is a reality that has persisted for decades.
The Navy has been lauded for according more importance to domestic production than the Army and Air Force, does the industrial climate of the nation prove the drawback? Drawing private shipyards into the fold is a way out that is being experimented with. Maybe competition, and fear that major orders will be placed elsewhere, will lead to the public sector yards breaking free of their sarkari lethargy. Also awaited is an announcement of what will follow the Kolkata, Kochi and Chennai programme. Indigenisation energies must not be permitted to dissipate.
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