On an avg. Rs 120 crores worth of orders given to MSMEs annually
Stating that MSMEs play a significant role in working with the Indian navy Vice Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command said that the Eastern Naval Command regularly interacts with Industry and holds awareness sessions for private Industry&MSMEs.
The Vice admiral underscored the need for more sensitization and awareness programs in order for MSMEs to understand the staunch requirements of the Indian Navy.
‘We are trying to get MSMEs & private industry to sit with our technical and operational people to first understand what our requirements and capabilities are’ noted the Vice Admiral.
Adding that it isn’t really beneficial to operate in pockets he said that there are small projects which the Navy works upon and when they find a relevant and suitable capability it is then taken to other commands who too can benefit from.
He however appreciated the growing capabilities of many MSMEs/startups and said there is a need to further nurture and hand hold them. ‘I must say that whenever we have taken assistance from the private sector, we have found that there is a lot of capability that is resident which we can harness’ said the VADM.
He also spoke on the need of funding and research to better serve the requirements of the Indian Navy.
When asked a question as to how much does the ENC source from MSMEs the VADM Dasgupta informed that the Naval Dockyard, Visakhapatnam on an average, gives about Rs 120 crores worth of orders to MSMEs annually.
Similarly for the overall command this figure is said to be in the range of Rs 280 to Rs 300 crores. It was further informed that the dockyard actively works with about 180 MSMEs spread across the country.
Focus on Indigenization
Echoing similar views Rear Admiral Sanjay Sadhu, Admiral Superintendent of Naval Dockyard, Visakhapatnam, said that there is a clear focus on Indigenization and that ENC has been working closely with plethora of MSMEs across the country in strengthening the Atma Nirbharta vision.
Identifying indigenization as an ongoing process, RADM Sadhu said that the Indian Navy has given a lot of components of combat/control systems for indigenization.
‘We continuously associate with industry/OEMs in terms of indigenization and have already indigenized many critical systems in the Navy.
This not only helps us in our mission of achieving self-reliance but also brings in huge savings by cutting down on expensive imports’ said RADM Sadhu. It is estimated that over 6000 contract workers are deployed at naval dockyard, Visakhapatnam with a daily average of 3500 workers coming in.
