The National Institute for Research and Development in Defence Shipbuilding (Nirdesh), an autonomous body under the aegis of the Department of Defence Production, Union Ministry of Defence, in Kozhikode, is all set to begin designing of vessels for the Indian Navy.
Official sources said that Nirdesh would begin with preparing standard designs for a range of small vessels used by Navy for patrolling.
Besides, it would also design harbour vessels, tugs, ferries and survey ships. A design expert would be engaged on contractual basis for two years to set up the design centre and to commence designing of ships.
Former Defence Minister A.K. Antony had laid the foundation stone for the ambitious Rs.600-crore project at Chaliyam in 2011 aimed at achieving “complete self-reliance in the strategic areas of research and development, technology development, design, skill development and related avenues leading to indigenous construction of warships, submarines and related platforms.”
However, its activities have been confined to imparting training on shipbuilding and other corporate social responsibility till now.
Captain Ramesh Babu, project director of Nirdesh, said that the design expert would be responsible for undertaking design of vessels and structures for various applications and to set up the Nirdesh design facility by identifying and procuring, inducting hardware, software, standards and other necessary facilities, equipment and personnel.
“The expert will be assisted by two young naval architects, who also will be engaged for two years on contract basis,” he said.
He said that Nirdesh also planned to set up a Centralised Shipbuilding Data Centre, which would become a hub of shipbuilding information, to be shared by all shipyards, Navy, Coast Guard, DRDO and other stakeholders. A data management expert is being engaged on contract for two years for this purpose, Captain Babu said.
The expert will be responsible for setting up the Nirdesh Data Centre, with appropriate hardware and software, prepare structure of data bases to be created and procure appropriate software and hardware. He/she will collate, process, store data on shipbuilding and related areas with adequate security and make the same available to authorised users.
To give an impetus to the ongoing training programmes, a Technology Officer will also be inducted into Nirdesh, he added.
