In a first, India exports Patrol vessel to Mauritius

    Yesterday India's state-owned Garden Reach Shipyard & Engineers (GRSE) handed over an 1350-tonne & 74 metres long naval vessel named 'CGS Barracuda' to Mauritius. Though the contract to build this Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) is valued at a skimpy INR 350 crores (US$ 55 million), this is the first time that an Indian shipyard is 'exporting' a warship to a foreign nation on a commercial basis. According to figures tabled in Parliament on November 28, India’s total defense exports were Rs 512.48 crore in 2011-12; Rs 446.75 crore in 2012-13; 686.27 crore in 2013-14 (cumulatively Rs.1646 crore or US$ 270 million during 2011-14). In this fiscal, value of India's defense exports has been a paltry Rs 166 crore till month of September. The export of the Barracuda would, therefore, be a significant success. Seeking to expand its international footprint, the state-owned GRSE will be supplying 4-7 Fast Patrol Boats, each weighing some 140-tonne, to the Vietnamese navy. Hanoi will draw down on a US$100-million (INR 600 crores) line of credit extended by India to buy these boats. Besides GRSE is also eying a USD 315 million contract to build two frigates, each weighing 3500 tonnes, for Philippines navy. For the Philippines order, GRSE is competing with six foreign shipyards including Navantia (Spain) STX (France) and Hyundai, Daewoo from South Korea.