Antony to open Coastal Radars at Mumbai and Porbandar today

Mumbai, Aug 25 (ANI): Defence Minister A.K. Antony will inaugurate the Static Sensors Project of Coastal Surveillance Network (CSN) of the Coast Guard at Mumbai and Porbandar on Saturday.

The chain of Static Sensors project being steered by the Indian Coast Guard, finds its origin in the recommendations made by the Group of Ministers (GoM) on reforming the National Security System, post-Kargil conflict.

After detailed Inter-Ministerial deliberations, it was decided that the Indian Coast Guard would implement this ambitious project. The project implementation on the mainland and the island territories is envisaged to be completed by September 2012 and March 2013 respectively.

There was an emergent need to strengthen our Coastal Security apparatus post the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. Accordingly, this project was progressed on a fast track. Considering the strategic nature of the Project and with an aim to develop indigenous capabilities in the field, it was decided to implement this project through M/s Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL).

The contract for this turnkey project was concluded with M/s BEL, Bangalore in Sep 2011 at a cost of over Rs.600 Crores with an implementation schedule of 12 months and 18 months for the mainland and the island sites, respectively.

In order to define the project requirement for the Phase-I of the project, a detailed vulnerability Gap analysis and feasibility study was undertaken by the Indian Coast Guard along with other stake holders, viz. Director General of Lighthouses and Lightships (DGLL), Indian Navy, concerned state Governments etc. (ANI)