India has great scope to become indigenous ship-building hub: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh

On ICGS Vigraha, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said “from its design conception to development, the ship is completely indigenous.”

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said the country has “great scope” to become an indigenous ship-building hub, while pointing out that the Centre has introduced policies to help the domestic industry become world class. In his address at an event to mark the commissioning of Indian Coast Guard Ship (ICGS) ‘Vigraha,’ the last of the seven Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs), in Chennai, Mr. Singh said that in the next two years, the expenditure on security around the world will reach $2.1 trillion. “Most of countries do not even have this level of budget for a whole year. And it is expected to increase manifold in the next five years. In such a situation, today we have great scope to make full use of our capabilities, take advantage of policies, and move towards making the country an indigenous shipbuilding hub. I am happy to say that considering these possibilities, the government has already brought out such policies which helps our domestic industry, be it public or private sector entity, to become world class players,” Mr. Singh said.