Coast Guard's Rs 32,000 cr expansion plan to see higher pvt participation

Currently, the private sector participation stands at around 30-35%

The Indian Coast Guard has drawn up a Rs 32,000 crore plan for 2017-2022, which will see participation from the private sector.

After launching Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV), built by L&T Shipbuilding at Kattupalli near Chennai, V S R Murthy, additional director general, Indian Coast Guard said  40 years ago the Indian Coast Guard started its service with three vessels, today the inventory is 130 ships and 62 aircraft.

The Indian Coast Guard fleet strength will touch 200 ships and 100 aircraft by 2022, he said.

"We have an action plan which includes platform, aircraft, shore base infrastructure among others. The outlay is around Rs 32,000 crore," said Murthy.

Currently, the private sector participation stands at  30-35 per cent. As of now, 70 ships are under construction at six shipyards. 

Named as Vikram, the Rs 186 crore OPV was built by L&T Shipbuilding Ltd. It is the first of the seven OPVs to be built by L&T Shipbuilding for the Coast Guard. Total value of the contract bagged by L&T for OPVs is Rs 1,432 crore.

These are expected to  be inducted in the Coast Guard by April 2018 after completion of trials. Subsequent OPVs will be delivered after a span of six months.

According to B Kannan, MD and CEO of L&T Shipbuilding ,the ship will be handed over to Coast Guard after harbour and sea trials.

He said the company's order book size is Rs 1,700 crore.

The shipyard also bagged an order from Vietnam to build 12 high speed vessels.