INDIA. Mumbai: Vice Admiral SN Ghormade, Vice Chief of Naval Staff (VCNS) superannuated after over 39 years of illustrious service. He was given a ceremonial farewell at Naval Headquarters in New Delhi on Friday.
“During his tenure as VCNS, he significantly contributed towards the creation and sustenance of a combat-ready and future-proof Navy through a focused impetus on integrated planning, indigenization, and adopting emerging technologies in capital acquisition with the optimisation of allocated fiscal resources,” the official statement read. Ghormade also worked on a roadmap for the Theatrisation of the armed forces, with an emphasis on tri-service synergy, joint manship and integrated planning.
The Navy has been at the forefront of self-reliance, and Vice Admiral Ghormade gave impetus to the initiatives with dedicated efforts to encourage Indian industry along with Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Sustained impetus on indigenisation resulted in a continuous increase in indigenous content in the naval ships.
The Indian Navy has also effectively utilised the “Make” and “iDEX” routes to achieve the objective of self-reliance by involving greater participation in the Indian industrial eco-system, including the private sector. Under his supervision, the Indian Navy laid the foundation for the induction of more than 75 game-changing technologies and products through the SPRINT challenges that were launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the “Swavlamban Seminar” to be inducted by August 15.
During Ghormade’s tenure, the Navy ploughed back over 2/3 of the capital budget towards the Indian economy by processing from indigenous sources; 41 out of 43 ships and submarines for the Indian Navy are being constructed in Indian shipyards. Many other schemes of innovation, indigenisation, technological advancements, and research and development projects with DRDO, Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSU) and industries progressed along with various infrastructure projects.
Ghormade’s tenure also saw the allocation of the highest budget approvals with the highest Acceptance of Necessity (AoNs), the conclusion of shipbuilding contracts, SPRINT and IDEX projects, the impetus for Indigenisation schemes, the highest expenditure in Capital Works, and a push to infrastructure projects.
“Under his supervision, the First Indigenous Aircraft Carrier INS Vikrant was commissioned on September 2, 2022, in the presence of Modi as a historical milestone for the maiden landing of Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) (Navy) on the flight deck of INS Vikrant at sea, which was completed on March 6,” the statement added.
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