Odisha Channel Bureau
Visakhapatnam: “There is a plethora of opportunities the Indian Navy presents to the industry and we urge industry to understand our needs and quality requirements,” said Vice Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta, Chief of Staff, Eastern Naval Command.
Addressing a webinar organized by Vizag Industrial Scan in collaboration with ENC on “Atmanirbhar: ENC exploring opportunities for SMEs and startups,” he highlighted the sea of opportunities that the ENC presents to the industry and as to how they should take advantage of it.
‘We have a very large budget but unfortunately a lot of that budget ends up going to foreign entities. We want this to change and want our local MSMEs to get the benefit of this large budget,” said the Vice Admiral.
He emphasised the fact that there were more than 40 MSMEs in AP, many of them in Vizag that were helping ENC in operation readiness. He stated that these numbers shall only increase in future.
“We are the largest Navy in this part of the world,” the naval officer said.
He emphasised on the need for industry and Indian Navy to work together and understand the requirements of the defence forces.
“We will be happy to share information and work with you in order to make Industry a reliable partner for us,” he said.
The Vice Admiral, however, also cautioned industry by stressing on the need for quality enhancement and timeliness of deliveries.
“R&D, quality of products, meeting deadlines etc. need to improve. Similarly, the reliability and the services industry provides to us needs to match highest quality standards,” he said.
Later presentations were made by naval officials. A special address was delivered by Rear Admiral Sanjay Sadhu, Chief Staff Officer (Tech).
From the industry side J. Srinivasa Raju, chairman, CII Vizag zone, Cdr. Jayapraksan, FICCI defence committee member participated.
The webinar was moderated by Aditya Sabharwal of Vizag Industrial Scan.
