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Defence breakthrough

The move is also a significant milestone in the Indo-Mauritian cooperation as on December 20, 2014, India exported CGS Barracuda offshore patrol vessel (OPV) to Mauritius which has bought the ship for about Rs3 billion, defence sources said.

Worth $58 million, the CGS Barracuda measures 74.10 metre in length and can move at a maximum speed of 22 knots, that is 37km an hour with approximate displacement of 1,350 tonnes.

It has features such as: external firefighting, the movement by sea of troops and pollution response. Built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Limited (GRSE), Kolkata, it has been designed to carry out the usual OPV tasks such as anti-smuggling, anti-piracy, anti-poaching and search and rescue.

India in the past has gifted warships to many of the smaller Indian Ocean countries such as Maldives and Mauritius. A good example of the same is the Sukanya class OPV sold to Sri Lanka which now serves as the flagship of the Sri Lanka navy. GRSE has bid to build two frigates for the Philippines Navy for an estimated Rs10 billion each, for which major global shipyards such as STX of France and Navantia of Spain are also bidding. If GRSE wins this bid, then it would be the first time that a warship designed and built in India is selected in an international tender. They have so far made 92 warships for the Indian Navy and Coast Guard.

GRSE’s chairman and managing director Rear Admiral A.K. Verma recently stated that since after the company’s modernisation they have increased their capacity to meet the requirements of their defence forces without overrun in time and cost. He also elucidated on this being a very significant development in terms of putting India in the league of countries exporting warship. The defence ministry recently dropped plans to buy submarines to boost its fleet. As per the new policy, the submarines would be built in an Indian shipyard.

India no longer needs to import such ships from abroad and this in itself is a testament to how far the country has come. It seems like India is finally moving towards a positive progressive growth on the economic and defence front by taking the road to self-sustenance.