PRESS INFORMATION BUREAU (DEFENCE WING)
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

VISAKHAPATNAM
25 February 2023

'हर काम देश के नाम'

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          Indian Navy Reviews Refit of Ships, Submarines, Infrastructure Development and Indigenisation

A two-day Annual Refit Conference (ARC) and Annual Infrastructure & Indigenisation Conference (AIIC) were conducted at Headquarters, Eastern Naval Command, Visakhapatnam on 23 and 24 Feb 23. The conference held under the Chairmanship of Vice Admiral Sandeep Naithani, AVSM, VSM, Chief of Materiel, Integrated Headquarters Ministry of Defence(Navy) reviewed the Refit plans, operational availability of ships, submarines of the Indian Navy and discussed the plans for augmentation of infrastructure to meet the growing requirements of the Indian Navy. The conference was attended by delegates from the Naval Headquarters, the three Naval Commands, the Tri-Services Andaman and Nicobar Command, Director General Naval Projects, Naval Dockyards, Repair Yards and Material Organisations of the Indian Navy.
 
         

Vice Adm Naithani lauded the progress made on maintenance and sustenance aspects of the Machinery, Hull, Weapons and Sensors of the Naval platforms. He urged the Technical fraternity to remain focused on the challenges faced and use the latest technologies like Artificial Intelligence, blockchain, quantum computation, 5G for IOT, robotics, etc,  to ensure enhanced operational availability of ships and submarines through a reduction in maintenance periods. He further highlighted the growing role of the Indian Navy and the extended deployment of ships away from the base port, which calls for greater reliance on repair authorities to deliver quality output.
 
         

During the AIIC meeting, the progress of various Technical and Marine infrastructure projects was reviewed by the Chief of Materiel. The Chief of Materiel expressed satisfaction with the pace of the ongoing technical infrastructure projects aimed at the augmentation of repair and refitting facilities in the Indian Navy. Further, various Marine infrastructure projects including the creation of additional berthing space for future platforms planned to be inducted over the next 15 years were reviewed during the meeting. An exclusive session on indigenisation was also conducted during the conference, in line with the Government of India's initiative of Atmanirbhar Bharat.

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