National Institute for Research and Development in Defence Shipbuilding (NIRDESH) is India's first centre for

research and development Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in Europe as research and technological development (RTD), is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products, and improving existi ...

in defence

shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befor ...

that is being established at Chaliyam near

Beypore Beypore or Beypur (formerly Beypoor) is an ancient port town and a locality town in Kozhikode district in the state of Kerala, India. It is located opposite to Chaliyam, the estuary where the river Chaliyar empties into Arabian Sea. Beypore is p ...

in the

Kozhikode district Kozhikode (), or Calicut district, is one of the 14 districts in the Indian state of Kerala, along its Southwestern Malabar Coast. The city of Kozhikode, also known as Calicut, is the district headquarters. The district is 67.15% urbanised. ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

. Upon full completion in 2016, it is expected to augment India's domestic defence production capabilities and be among Asia's largest centres for research and innovation in surface and submarine defence platforms. The position of Deputy Director General (DDG), based is New Delhi, is held by Commander (Retd) Dr. Dinesh Chandra Agarwal, previously with Manipal University Jaipur. The Project Director, based in Calicut, is Captain (Retd) B. Ramesh Babu.

Location

The institute is being set up at Chaliyam which was once renowned for its

industry and is close to the site of the landing of

Vasco Da Gama Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira (; ; c. 1460s – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and the first European to reach India by sea. His initial voyage to India by way of Cape of Good Hope (1497–1499) was the first to link E ...

in 1498. The institute is coming up in an area of 40.56 acres.

History

The

foundation stone The cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure. Over time ...

for the institute was laid by the

Defence Minister A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

AK Antony Arackaparambil Kurien Antony (born 28 December 1940) is an Indian politician and attorney who was the 23rd Defence Minister of India. He was Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha, from Kerala from 1985 to 1995 and again from 2005 to 2022. He ...

on 4 January 2011 and it is the fifth defence undertaking to be established in Kerala during AK Antony's tenure as the Defence Minister. The institute is being set up at a cost of 600 crores with the funding coming from the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

and the four defence shipyards at

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...

and

Visakhapatnam , image_alt = , image_caption = From top, left to right: Visakhapatnam aerial view, Vizag seaport, Simhachalam Temple, Aerial view of Rushikonda Beach, Beach road, Novotel, Novotel Visakhapatnam, INS Kursura (S20), INS ...

and will operate as an autonomous institution under the Department of Defence Production. Following the laying of the foundation stone the project encountered severe time overruns owing to delays in floating tenders and agitations by local people. While the initial phase of its construction was to have been completed in 2 years, little had been achieved in the 18 months following the stone-laying ceremony after local people organised and prevented the construction of a compound wall at the site. The

Government of Kerala Government of Kerala is the subnational government of the Indian state of Kerala. The government is led by a chief minister, who selects all the other ministers. The chief minister and their most senior ministers belong to the supreme decision ...

announced a comprehensive rehabilitation package for people affected by the project including provisions for their housing, education and health. In March 2013, the Board of Governors of NIRDESH met at

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

and announced that the institute would become operational in June 2013.

Objectives

NIRDESH seeks to facilitate enhanced self-reliance in India's defence production capabilities by focusing on areas like detail designing and integration of systems through a multipronged approach that includes development of skills, the involvement of

defence industry The arms industry, also known as the arms trade, is a global industry which manufactures and sells weapons and military technology. It consists of a commercial industry involved in the research and development, engineering, production, and s ...

and the strategy of knowledge mining. NIRDESH aims to develop an inventory of almost 15,000 inputs needed in the construction of

warships A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is built and primarily intended for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the armed forces of a state. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster and ...

including around 3750 key and strategic products. NIRDESH aims to provide technological support, develop indigenous capabilities and promote the participation of ancillary industries in India's defence shipbuilding sector thus enabling them to meet future demands for platforms by the

Indian Navy The Indian Navy is the maritime branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff, a four-star admiral, commands the navy. As a blue-water navy, it operates sig ...

. Ultimately, NIRDESH is to become the nodal centre for the defence shipbuilding industry in India. NIRDESH will undertake research studies, conduct detailed investigations and develop prototypes depending on the requirements of the country and collaborate to this end with domestic and foreign agencies. The institute will pioneer the acquisition of

intellectual property rights Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...

and register and share

patents A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...

on systems and designs in ship and submarine-building with shipyards. Consultancy services to shipyards in areas of space and

project planning Project planning is part of project management, which relates to the use of schedules such as Gantt charts to plan and subsequently report progress within the project environment. Project planning can be done manually or by the use of project man ...

, human resources and

best practices A best practice is a method or technique that has been generally accepted as superior to other known alternatives because it often produces results that are superior to those achieved by other means or because it has become a standard way of doing ...

will form another area of activity.

Facilities and work

NIRDESH is expected to engage over 10,000 people including a large number of researchers and create over 5,000 ancillary jobs in Kozhikode district. Phase-I of the project, to be completed by 2016, will establish facilities for a Design and Data Park, a Training and Academic Park, an Estate and Environment Park and provide administrative facilities and other amenities. A Research and Development park and a Technology and Innovation park will come up later. The land for the campus was made available by the

and the construction of the buildings are being undertaken by the state government agency Nirmithi Kendra. In 2013 NIRDESH commenced the Young Officers Capsule Course as its pioneer training programme. It has also begun its first R&D project for the indigenisation of silicon rubber in association with the Rubber Research Institute of India,

Kottayam Kottayam () is a municipal town in the Indian state of Kerala. Flanked by the Western Ghats on the east and the Vembanad Lake and paddy fields of Kuttanad on the west. It is the district headquarters of Kottayam district, located in south-we ...

References

{{authority control 2011 establishments in Kerala Military research installations of India Military research institutes Research institutes in Kerala Education in Kozhikode district