Sans Cabinet nod, Nirdesh hits uncertain waters

KOZHIKODE: The fate of the Rs 600-crore Nirdesh (National Institute for Research & Development in Defence Shipbuilding) now hangs in the balance with the revelation that the project has not yet received the approval of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS).
Nirdesh is an autonomous institution set up to boost the indigenization of the country's warship and submarine construction.Foundation stone for the project was laid in 2011.
Authorities have not yet been able to commence infrastructure work at the project site at Chaliyam near Beypore without getting the initial government funding of Rs 100 crore. "Nirdesh project has hit uncertain waters as it was revealed at the executive committee meeting held in New Delhi on Wednesday that the project has not received formal clearance of the Cabinet committee. Funds are unlikely to come by without CCS clearance. Now, we have to start all over. The delays have already set the project back by three years," a ministry of defence (MoD) official, privy to the developments, said.
The executive committee meeting chaired by Nirdesh director general Sanjai Garg concluded indecisively on the project's future. Garg is also the joint secretary at the defence ministry. The committee is also unable to forward the detailed project report to the board of governors headed by the defence ministry for approval in the absence of assurance from the ministry regarding funds.
According to sources, the new defence minister Arun Jaitley and the defence production secretary will need to be convinced for the project to take off. Officials are uncertain about the Cabinet note prepared on the project during the tenure of A K Antony as defence minister.
Apparently, the UPA government's delay in according cabinet clearance and earmarking funds for the project has now proved costly. "For a project of this scale, CCS clearance should have been secured when the project was okayed. Cabinet clearance would have made it easy to secure funds," sources said.
The activities of Nirdesh have been limited to training programmes on ship building for young engineers using the Rs 6 crore fund provided by for defence shipyards at Mumbai, Kolkata, Goa and Visakhapatnam. Also, the DPR is ready and has been approved by the executive committee.
The institute has also engaged Hyderabad-based Bhagavathy Ana Labs as consultant for implementation of environmental protection measures and adherence to Coastal Regulation Zone norms.
Kozhikode MP M K Raghavan has said that he would seek the defence minister's intervention in expediting approval for the project and release of funds. He is scheduled to meet Jaitley next week. "There have been extraordinary delays in commencing activities of the project, but we hope to sort it out," he said.
Meanwhile, former industries minister Elamaram Kareem said the failure in obtaining Cabinet approval indicated the state government's inefficiency in following up such a crucial project, despite having had A K Antony as defence minister.