Indian Navy will greatly benefit from it: HSL CMD on contract with Defence Ministry for acquisition of five Fleet Support Ships
Aug 26, 2023
New Delhi [India], August 26 : Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL) CMD Commodore Hemant Khatri (Retd) on Friday said that the contract that the Defence Ministry signed with HSL will greatly benefit the Indian Navy.
"It's a big day because today, contracts for five ships have been signed together. These five ships are very advanced in terms of size and technology...The Indian Navy will greatly benefit from them..., " Hemant Khatri said.
The contract signed on Friday is for the acquisition of five Fleet Support Ships (FSS) for the Indian Navy at an overall cost of around Rs 19,000 crore.
According to Defence officials, it would be a major boost towards achieving the goal of self-reliance in defence manufacturing as these ships will be indigenously designed and constructed by HSL, Visakhapatnam.
Speaking to ANI on the occasion, Indian Navy Vice Chief Vice Admiral Sanjay J Singh said that the five Fleet Support Ships will enhance the cargo capacity and will promote maritime security in all regions of the Indian Ocean.
"The current genre of Fleet Support Ships (FSS) that are now being signed today will carry cargo for almost 25,000 tons...With five of these tankers, we are confident that we'll be able to maintain presence and surveillance and promote maritime security in all regions of the Indian Ocean," he told ANI.
Navy’s Controller of Warship Production & Acquisition (CWP&A) Vice Admiral Kiran Deshmukh, said that the Rs 20,000 crore contract signed will help in generating job opportunities worth 170 lakh man-days.
"If you count the five ships today then we have also signed a Rs 20,000 crores contract...This will create job opportunities worth 170 lakh man-days. As of now, we are handling the ship-building contracts of Rs 1.5 lakh crores which have already concluded...I am sure this is in line with the government's directive for Atmanirbharta and I am sure it takes us towards our major objective of having 100 per cent Atmanirbharta by 2047," Deshmukh said.
