Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday said that the Defence Shipyard has played a pivotal role in strengthening our Navy force and Coast Guard, and ensured not just timely delivery of platforms but also has given the best quality materials.

"The strengthening of the Navy and Coast Guard is possible only when it is fully equipped with modern weapons for the security of the maritime border and the shipyard is continuously playing an important role in this direction," said Singh while chairing a meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Defence in Mumbai on Friday.

He said that the defence shipyard is a prime example of PM Modi's vision of 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat', and India's defence shipyard is appreciated all over the world by foreign nations as well.

"I appreciate the way Defence Shipyard has worked over the years and happy to say that Defence Shipyard has not only taken care of timely delivery of order but it was also providing the quality of its products which was foremost and this direction Defence shipyard tried its best," said Singh.

"Defence Shipyard has done a very good job in view of Prime Minister's self-reliant India, and the indigenisation list by the Ministry of Defence is 3700 and its manufacturing will be done from here and will not be taken from outside under any circumstances," he pointed out.

"I am not saying that we have achieved all the heights of progress, efforts have been made since decade for the development of our shipyard and still we have to achieve a lot and suggestions are expected from committee members," Singh said while adding that I expect the Defence Shipyard to continue working in this direction and constantly hold discussions.

Singh also said that the Defence Shipyards have strengthened the economic condition.

"During 2021-22, the value and production of these shipyards are around Rs.9000 crores and the profit is around Rs.1000 crores after tax," he pointed out.

Addressing the Members of Parliament attending the Consultative Committee meeting, Singh said, "Last time when we met, we had decided that the next meeting would be held in Mumbai. Till now, there have been many such issues of the Defence Ministry. We have been discussing the same regularly in the committee meetings, and making constant efforts to keep you informed about what is happening in the field of Defence and what we are going to do in the future."

He also said that the Committee's suggestions in the previous meeting were considered important and they tried to implement whatever was possible.

Union Defence Minister also mentioned about the 'SRIJAN' Portal was launched on August 14, 2020, to promote indigenisation, and 783 items listed in the portal were imported earlier. Their indigenous vendors were also not available in the country.

"We have been successful in indigenising the 73 items and efforts to indigenize the remaining items with the support of industry partners are on," he said.

Members of Parliament including Adhir Ranjan Choudhary, Farooq Abdullah, Sougat Roy, Manish Tiwari, Rajni Patil, Anil Desai, and Sudip Bandopadhyay among others were present in the meeting.