Defence Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday said that more procurement and faster purchase of equipment are the two major challenges that the ministry faces.
“This government is committed to national security and we feel that the red tape involved in purchase of defence equipments must be cut down. Also some mechanism needs to be set up to expedite the procurement process,” Mr. Jaitley said while interacting with the press on the sidelines of commissioning of Coastguard ships INS Achook and INS Agrim.
On the issue of saving INS Vikrant from the scrap yard, Mr. Jaitley said that while there have been many representations made to him both by ministers and members of general public. The matter is with the Supreme Court and the Defence ministry will submit its reply to the court whenever asked for and will abide by the decision of the court.
Mr. Jaitley was also briefed on status of the salvage operation of INS Sindhurakshak. The Russian kilo-class submarine was salvaged earlier this week and will be soon handed over to the Indian Navy. On the question of whether the vessel needs to be decommissioned or not, the minister said that the decision will be taken on the report prepared by Navy.
Post the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai, the Indian Coastguard had requested more patrolling vessels to patrol the western coast. Two more fast patrol vessels – Achook and Agrim were commissioned on Saturday by the Defence minister. These two vessels will be deployed in Mumbai and will be vital in maritime patrolling.
The indigenous vessels were built by Cochin shipyard. While the making were plagued by delays in purchase of steel and other equipments, Kochi shipyard claimed that the other equipments will be delivered on time. The minister also visited Navy aircraft carrier INS Viraat before commissioning the two Coastguard ships.
