In years to come, ENC is all set to grow in strength

Visakhapatnam: From the present fleet of 50 ships, 60-65 aircraft spread across various stations, four Kilo class submarines operating from Visakhapatnam, among others, the Eastern Naval Command (ENC) is all set to grow in its strength in the days to come. Following the commissioning of the first indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant which is slated to be based at Visakhapatnam, headquarters of the ENC by 2024 after going through a series of aviation complex, aircraft and endurance trials in a structured manner, Flag Officer Commanding in Chief of Eastern Naval Command Vice Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta indicated that this is just the beginning of the Eastern Fleet's bright future.

"Once INS Vikrant is stationed, there will be a requirement of more units and it is a matter of time that the Eastern Fleet of the ENC will further get robust. Apparently, we will be able to maintain a much stronger presence in our area of responsibility than we do now. Also, we are quite confident of managing any challenge that emerges in our area of responsibility even at the moment," the ENC chief made it clear onboard INS Jalashwa in Visakhapatnam on Saturday. Not denying the possible threat of Chinese ship movement in Hambantota Port in Sri Lankan coast, Vice Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta exuded confidence over the ENC's combat-readiness in case of emerging threats.

As a part of the Atmanirbhar Bharat, Vice Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta elaborated that 40 ships are under construction and they currently form a part of the Indian Navy. Of them, 38 are being built in Indian naval shipyards and much of the machinery and systems of the ships are of the indigenous content. "Wherever the technology is lacking, we are trying to obtain and develop the same by collaborating with other partners so that our dependence on foreign suppliers and vendors gradually keeps reducing. Of the 38 ships, one-third of the fleet would be part of the ENC," the Vice Admiral shared, adding that 50 more ships are in different stages of planning.

In a move to fulfil the indigenisation needs, the Indian Navy has set up an umbrella organisation Centre for Indigenisation and Self Reliance (CISR) cell in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. About Agniveer recruitments, the Vice Admiral said 20 percent of the Agniveer vacancies were subscribed for women and it is the first time in the history that the Indian Navy is recruiting women below officer rank. Induction of the first batch of Agniveers is in progress at INS Chilka. "Out of 10 lakh-plus applications received, 3,474 recruits have been called up for the recruitment. Of them, 340 were women. Currently, they are in the final stage of the screening. The final count of the first batch of the recruits will be known in a day or two," the ENC chief mentioned.