The Indian Navy reviewed refit plans for all its warships and submarines at a conference at Visakhapatnam on February 18 amidst a growing emphasis on the Make in India agenda.

The follow-up conference on February 19 will also formulate plans for infrastructure augmentation to meet the growing repair and refit requirements of the Indian Navy.

Emphasising the need for enhanced efficiency and capability of sea-going units, Chief of Materiel Vice-Admiral GS Pabby, who chaired the conference, urged a focus on greater indigenisation in keeping with the spirit of the 'Make in India' initiative.

In his address, Vice-Admiral Pabby complimented the forum for ensuring quality refits of ships and submarines, with a focus on the safety of personnel and material. During the course of the conference, technical and logistics aspects concerning refits were deliberated at length.

Emphasising the need for enhanced efficiency and capability of sea-going units, Chief of Materiel Vice-Admiral GS Pabby, who chaired the conference, urged a focus on greater indigenisation in keeping with the spirit of the 'Make in India' initiative

The Indian Navy's Annual Refit Conference (ARC) and Annual Infrastructure Conference (AIC) are being attended by all the stakeholders representing Naval Headquarters, the three Naval Commands, the Tri-Services Andaman & Nicobar Command, Dockyards, Repair Yards and Material Organisations of the Navy.

In his inaugural address, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command Vice Admiral Atul Kumar Jain appreciated the efforts to ensure combat availability of Naval platforms. He lauded the role of the Naval Repair Yards in enabling sustained operations of platforms at sea.

The Annual Infrastructure Conference will be held on 19 Feb 20 to review progress towards modernisation and augmentation of repair and refitting infrastructure in order to maintain the lethal edge of combat assets of the Indian Navy.