According to Union Earth Sciences Minister Kiren Rijiju, India intends to have its first Polar Research Vessel (PRV) within the following five years.
This programme aims to keep India’s bases in Antarctica operational.
During the current fiscal year, the Cabinet is anticipated to approve the ship proposal. Rijiju claimed that the Cabinet had already cleared Rs 1,051 crore for the purchase of the vessel in 2014 during a discussion in the Rajya Sabha.
Additionally, a tender was issued with the same objective. The government eventually decided to scrap the project, though, after the shipbuilding business raised a few issues. These requirements were not included in the initial tendering procedure.
Rijiju stated that a new initiative had been started and that the EFC’s (Expenditure Finance Committee) proposal was now prepared for motion.
According to Rijiju, the vessel’s estimated price has been raised to Rs 2,600 crore.
Rijiju expressed confidence that the vessel estimate would be put forth and moved in the Cabinet this fiscal year. He added that the ship ought to be ready in the next five years.
” I’m optimistic that we’ll be prepared to move in the Cabinet and offer this estimate this fiscal year. We ought to get the ship ready within the next five years,” Rijiju told the media.
According to Rijiju, the government is now in talks with nations that have experience building these ships.
Rijiju, however, asserted that the government preferred to produce the ship domestically.
Bharati, Maitri, and Dakshin Gangotri are the three research base stations that India currently operates in Antarctica’s polar area.
According to the minister, the nation needs icebreaker ships to maintain constant access to the research stations which are necessary for a number of reasons, including a better knowledge of climate change and other research-related issues.
