NEW DELHI, August 12: India's ship building infrastructure came under close scrutiny at a seminar held in Delhi recently. In the inaugural address, Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat, chief of the naval staff urged the chairmen and managing directors (CMDs) of the shipyards around the country to adopt innovative measures to modernise the ship building infrastructure and augment the national ship building capacity.

Exhorting the CMDs, the chief advised them to strive for world class shipbuilding standards with matching delivery rates. Rather than settling for small changes, he asked them to take bold management decisions and bring about radical improvements. Organised jointly by the Indian Navy and the Department of Defence Production and Supplies, the participants included the chief executives of Mazagaon dock, Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers, Goa Shipyard, Hindustan Shipyard and the Cochin Shipyard. Each shipyard gave a detailed presentation on its capabilities and limitations along with their future plans. Representatives of the ministry of surface transport and senior officers of the navy.

Citing the example of Maruti Udyog and BHEL, Vijayraghavan, advised the yards to aim for excellence in this strategic sector. He requested the yards to work in unison so that Indian ship building and especially warship construction could be rated as world class. Though as many as 75 warships have so far been built by various shipyards altogether, it is still felt that the efficiency levels and delivery rates left much to be desired.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.