Defence ministry to extend all support to Goa Shipyard: Naik

Union Minister of State for Defence Shripad Naik on Monday said the Centre would provide all support to the Goa Shipyard Limited so that it can complete all its ongoing defence-related projects on time.

Naik held a meeting with Goa Shipyard Limited Chairman and Managing Director Commodore (retd) B B Nagpal to review various projects, after the mine counter-measure vessels project to guard India's critical sea lanes hit a dead-end.

He said the issues faced by the Goa Shipyard, located around 40 km from here in Vasco town, pertaining to orders from the defence ministry would be addressed immediately.

"The ministry will give all required support to the shipyard to complete the projects on time. We will also ensure that their order book is full," Naik told reporters after the meeting.

The Goa Shipyard has required skilled manpower and a track record of completing its projects before time, he said.

Besides orders from the Indian defence forces, the ministry will also try to get assignments (orders) from navies of Sri Lanka and Russia for this public sector undertaking here, the minister said.

"The Goa Shipyard does not face any major challenges but there are some small issues which would be sorted out by the Union government," he said.

The Goa Shipyard earlier called off negotiations with a South Korean Company over a Rs 32,000 crore minesweepers or mine counter-measure vessels project following differences over a host of issues, including terms and conditions for technology transfer, according to sources.

According to the original understanding, the Goa Shipyard and the Kangam Corporation were to build 12 minesweepers in India under the 'Make in India' initiative and the deliveries were to be completed within nine years of the start of the project.

However, both sides struggled to finalise various key aspects of the project.