Economics needs a new paradigm

The aim must not be merely GDP growth, but more urgently, fair inclusion and environmental sustainability

India will be a $10 trillion dollar gross domestic product (GDP) economy by 2032, the government has announced. The concern is whether the growth will create enough jobs. So far, India has generated fewer jobs every percentage point increase in GDP than other countries have with less growth. The governor of the Reserve Bank of India has sparked a controversy by saying that high growth of GDP is not a sufficient measure of a good economy. Bernie Sanders has grabbed the imagination of young people in the US with his vision of a “moral economy” in which the fruits of growth reach everyone, not only the top 1%. Around the world, GlobeScan reports, two-thirds of citizens no longer believe their country’s GDP reflects their well-being. Even the venerable The Economist has declared that GDP is an increasingly poor gauge of well-being and it is time for a new approach.

In his classic treatise, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Thomas Kuhn explains why paradigms are hard to change. In each science, whether physics, chemistry, biology or astronomy, a core idea is adopted by its community, and all its experiments and theories are built around this idea. There are long periods of what Kuhn calls ‘normal’ science during which it is heresy to challenge this core idea. Anyone who does is ostracized by the scientific community. Revolutions occur, he explains, when after many decades of accumulation of contrarian evidence, this idea is let go off and a new one replaces it. The process of learning of new paradigms must go along with the unlearning of old ones. For example, acceptance that the Earth is not at the centre of the universe, that matter has wave-like properties and that species evolve, required the letting-go of core beliefs to the contrary. Unlearning is not easy because vested interests in the established order will resist changes that diminish their importance. Thus, unlearning of a scientific paradigm often creates upheavals, not only within the scientific community, but in the wider body politic too when the state and the church are aligned with the established scientific order.

The science of economics is experiencing the pains of a paradigm shift. Mainstream economists failed to predict the recent global economic crisis. Now, they are searching for a “new normal”. James Galbraith says in The End of Normal: The Great Crisis and the Future of Growth that economists have redefined human experience into a special language limited to concepts that could be dealt with inside their established model. A core idea of the prevalent paradigm of economics is: humans are rational, self-interested beings. Another core idea driving economic policies is: markets must be made free to enable self-interested individuals and corporations to fulfil their material aspirations and produce more economic growth. Galbraith says, “Any refusal to shed the larger perspective—a stubborn insistence on bringing a broader set of facts or a different range of theory to bear—identifies one as ‘not an economist’. In this way, economists need only talk to one another. Enclosed carefully in their monastery, they can speak their code, establish their status rankings and hierarchies, and persuade themselves and one another of their intellectual and professional merit.” Thus, echoing Kuhn, Galbraith describes symptoms of a science stuck in an old normal.

Scientific revolutions change scientific paradigms. Political revolutions are often required to change economic paradigms. Karl Marx’s Das Kapital stirred revolutions in many countries in the 20th century. The human costs of those revolutions has made people wary of revolutionary political change as a means for changing the economic order. However, a safer option may not bring about the paradigm change required. This was the essence of the great debate between two political thought leaders, Edmund Burke and Thomas Paine, in the 18th century about the courses of the American and French revolutions. Burke advocated that some parts of the established order must be preserved to prevent chaos while making big changes. Paine countered that those pieces of the established order would protect their vested interests and prevent the paradigm change required.

That human beings have emotions, that they cherish many traditions of their communities, that they value their identities, that they have many aspirations that cannot be accounted in monetary terms, have become challenges for the dominant paradigm of economics. Such non-material values are difficult to include in a monetary measure of the economy. This is the conceptual challenge for economists. The challenge for economic policy reform, which Sanders points out, is that beneficiaries of the established paradigm will not let go.

The need for a new paradigm of economic policies, whose overriding aim must not be merely more GDP growth, but more urgently, fair inclusion in growth and environmental sustainability, is being realized around the world, even by economists. India is one of the most water-stressed countries; its cities the most polluted; its need for jobs for its huge population of youth the greatest. Leaders and their economic advisers have to urgently let go of the old paradigm of economics, and develop and apply a new one.

For India to realize its aspirations to be a global leader in the 21st century, it must lead the development of a new, democratic and inclusive, and sustainable, paradigm of economic management. To begin with, its leaders must report to citizens their plans and progress with a better scorecard than the growth of GDP.

Banks Board Bureau: Old wine in a new bottle?

The problem of bad loans, raising capital, and an overhaul of the banking sector cannot be done by merely asking the bureau to select bankers for top jobs

Early April, after the first meeting of the Banks Board Bureau at the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) central office in Mumbai, minister of state for finance Jayant Sinha tweeted: “excellent discussions at the Banks Board Bureau meeting today”. Subsequently, it held another meeting, but we still don’t know the exact terms of reference for this bureau.

A government release had earlier said that the bureau was being set up to improve the governance of public sector banks. It would recommend for selection the heads of public sector banks and financial institutions and help banks in developing strategies and capital-raising plans.

Vinod Rai, a former comptroller and auditor general of India, is the chairman of the bureau. Its members include Anil K. Khandelwal, a former chairman of Bank of Baroda; H.N. Sinor, a former joint managing director of ICICI Bank Ltd, who also headed two national lobbies of banks and mutual funds; and Roopa Kudva, a former managing director of rating company Crisil Ltd and now managing director of Omidyar Network India Advisors, a US-based philanthropic investment firm. Then, there are three so-called ex officio members—R. Gandhi, a deputy governor of the RBI; Anjuly Chib Duggal, secretary, department of financial services, in the ministry of finance; and Ameising Luikham, secretary, department of public enterprises.

Saddled with a large pile of bad assets, public sector banks need dollops of capital. They also need to focus on sharpening efficiency and strengthening corporate governance. How will the board help banks in developing strategies and raising capital? I am sure the competent members of the board will pick the right candidates for the top jobs at these banks, but what about the other directors on the board? If there is no change in the constitution of the board and the bureau does not have any say in the selection of independent directors, it will be difficult to help these banks develop strategies and raise capital as many directors on the boards of various banks neither understand strategy nor do they lend credibility to their institutions.

Finance minister Arun Jaitley announced in August the plan to set up the bureau as part of the Indradhanush programme to revamp state-run banks. It was expected that the bureau would help create a holding company for the government’s stakes in the public sector banks and facilitate consolidation in the sector, something which the government has been pushing for even as the banking regulator is planning to open up the sector further and exploring options of allowing different types of banks to set up shops.

A committee set up by the RBI to review the governance of bank boards, headed by former chairman and managing director of Axis Bank Ltd P.J. Nayak, in May 2014 had suggested the formation of the bureau as a first stage in a three-phase process to empower the boards of public sector banks. In the run-up to the incorporation of a Bank Investment Company as an intermediate holding company for these banks, the bureau would advise on all board appointments, including the whole-time directors and the top bank management, to “professionalize and depoliticize” the appointment process. The members of the bureau would have a tenure of three years or until powers are passed on to the investment company, whichever is shorter, and their remuneration would at least be on a par with the senior bank chiefs, the panel had recommended.

The investment company can be set up only after legislative changes. For instance, the Bank Nationalisation Acts of 1970 and 1980 and the SBI Act and the SBI (Subsidiary Banks) Act need to be repealed and all banks need to be incorporated under the Companies Act ahead of this. Indeed, this is a long-drawn process, but by keeping mum on this and selectively picking only the suggestion of setting up the bureau, what the government is doing is essentially replacing the appointments committee with the bureau.

After the CBI found that the appointment of Syndicate Bank’s former chairman and managing director S.K. Jain was not appropriate (following his arrest for accepting a bribe and being sacked in September 2014), the government scrapped the selection of heads of quite a few public sector banks and overhauled the entire selection process. It constituted three screening committees of two members each—a deputy governor of RBI, financial services secretary and four independent experts. In the second stage, the recommendations of these committees were to be screened by an appointment board, headed by the RBI governor.

The bureau is nothing but pouring old wine in a new bottle as there is no change in its constituents: An RBI deputy governor, two bureaucrats and four external experts—Rai, Khandelwal, Sinor and Kudva.

The gross non-performing assets (NPAs) of the state-run banks rose by about Rs.1.3 trillion in the December quarter toRs.3.93 trillion and those of all publicly traded banks were to the tune of Rs.4.38 trillion. After provisions, net NPAs of the listed banks crossed Rs.2.5 trillion in December, and state-run banks accounted for more than 90% of this. Fifteen Indian banks in December had at least 7% and up to 12.64% gross NPAs and 14 of them are in the public sector. The situation will take a turn for the worse once public sector banks announce their March-quarter earnings.

It will not be easy to raise capital unless the government plans to overhaul the way public sector banks operate and this cannot be done by merely asking the bureau to select bankers for the top jobs. The government must clarify whether it is an intermediate step towards setting up the investment company, and if it is, then the scope of work must be widened to include the appointment of independent directors of the board, as envisaged by the Nayak committee. It also must look at the tenure of the managing director and the chief executive and the compensation of senior bankers, among other things. Finally, the process of appointment must also change.

Ranking India’s states on consumption

NSSO surveys paint a rather different picture from the conventional narrative of growth in the states

Which state has the highest consumption per capita? Consumption is, after all, one of the chief measures of well-being. And which states have shown the highest increase in per capita consumption? The accompanying charts tell the story for selected major states. The data have been taken from the National Sample Survey Office’s (NSSO’s) Household Consumer Expenditure Surveys for 2003 and 2011-12.

Click here for enlarge

The chart shows that, in 2011-12, rural Kerala had the highest per capita consumption per month among rural areas. At Rs.2,668 per month, it was far above the All-India rural average of Rs.1,430 and well above that of Punjab, which was the next highest. There are no surprises among the laggards—these include the usual suspects Odisha, Jharkhand and Bihar.

More interesting, though, is the change from 2003. In that year, too, the numero uno in rural consumption was Kerala, followed by Punjab. Rural Haryana, at No. 3, was at the same rank in both 2003 and 2011-12. But rural Gujarat, which was the fourth from the top in consumption in 2003, slipped to a lowly No. 9 among the selected states. On the other hand, rural Andhra Pradesh, which was at No. 6 in 2003, improved its rank to No. 4 in 2011-12. Both rural Rajasthan and rural Karnataka also saw good growth in consumption.

What about urban India? The 2011-12 survey showed that urban Haryana topped the charts, no doubt aided by the growth of Gurgaon and other areas near Delhi. Among the selected states, urban Haryana improved its rank from No. 4 in 2003 to No. 1 in 2011-12. Urban Kerala, the top consumption rank holder in 2003, was pushed to second place. Maharashtra retained its No. 3 position. Urban Punjab however, slipped in the rankings. Urban consumption in Gujarat in 2011-12 slipped below the all-India average. Indeed, average urban consumption in Gujarat fell below that of West Bengal.

To be sure, the consumption figures also include the effect of local inflation and consumption patterns, but we have excluded the north-eastern states and the hill states for that reason. The results for Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh need to be adjusted for the fact that their 2003 figures included Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh, respectively.

The results show tepid improvement in consumption in Assam and Jharkhand. Bihar, on the other hand and in keeping with other data, shows a lot of improvement. Among the richer states, Punjab has slipped badly. Consumption growth in Gujarat has been nothing to write home about. Consumption growth in Karnataka has been high. Rajasthan, too, has done well. And, perhaps, Kerala’s high consumption rank owes a lot to remittances.

So, is there an Andhra or Tamil Nadu model of rural growth then? Or a Karnataka or Haryana model of urban growth? What’s interesting is that the NSSO surveys paint a rather different picture from the conventional narrative of growth in the states.

Isro: A world class Make in India example

The launch of a satellite for India’s own GPS shows Isro’s innovations are clearly the best Make in India products and, at the same, the most cost-effective space programme in the world

Last week, India successfully launched a satellite which finally established the country’s own satellite navigation system—only four others, the US, Russia, China and the European Union, possess this capability in the world—or more familiarly, a global positioning system (GPS) of its own. And once again it did so on a shoe-string budget.

Not only will the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), made up of seven satellites, strengthen the country strategically, it will also be useful in disaster management.

And, given that the footprint of the satellite navigation system will extend 1,500 km from its borders (covering all of Asia and extending to the fringes of Australia and Africa), India can share some of the capabilities with other developing countries in its neighbourhood.

This is a superb achievement for the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro). The institution and its innovations are clearly the best Make in India products and more incredible is the fact that it is the most cost effective space programme in the world.

In another three years it will celebrate its golden jubilee—given its amazing track record, this will be an anniversary to look forward to.

Set up in 1969, this organization has emerged as a unicorn (not in the way we refer to start-ups). It has had to face the same constraints as other institutions as well as the fact that it functioned under overall government control. Yet it has managed to break the stereotype of a public sector company (including forging a string of commercial agreements with private sector companies) and emerged as an institution which is world class.

This would be, by far, the most important takeaway from the Isro story. While the rest of us have whined about our constraints, Isro has shown that it is possible to deliver despite it (alternatively, imagine Isro’s achievement if the country had possessed a genuine meritocracy).

And, in this pursuit, it incorporated the national trait ofjugaad, the ability to make do with minimal resources, in its mission. It is the same trait that defines India as a “missed-call” nation—where the poor can make do with a Rs.5 prepaid phone card, by relying on free incoming calls. Similarly, Isro, too, has resorted to jugaad to keep its budgets down.

I still recall writing in the late 1980s about India’s pursuit of satellite launching capability. At that time, no one believed it was possible, especially with the West clamping down on any transfer of technology to Indian institutions claiming that it could be misused for military purposes. Yet it refused to be overawed and managed to assemble the cryogenic engine, critical for its rockets to acquire the desired efficiency.

Not only did it manage to acquire the capability, Isro has managed to scale up operations to a stage where it is now offering the facility commercially.

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In the current year, it has inked contracts to launch 25 satellites, which include 12 for the US, four for Germany and three for Canada. So far, Isro has launched 57 foreign satellites for 21 countries.

The world woke up to its capabilities, rather dramatically, when Isro succeeded with its Mars Orbiter Mission, Mangalyaan. And, amazingly, it managed to do so at one-ninth of the $670 million spent by the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) on its own mission to Mars.

In September 2014, Mangalyaan entered the orbit of Mars ending a 300-day voyage; in the process, India became the first country to succeed in its first attempt to send a probe to the red planet.

The 1,340-kg Mars orbiter was launched aboard the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C25) on 5 November 2013. It carried five scientific payloads weighing a total of 15kg, including a camera.

Like the other countries, the idea was to explore the presence of life forms on the planet’s surface. In the process, it reinforced India’s claims in deep space exploration capabilities.

Next on the agenda is Chandrayaan II, the country’s second moon mission, to be launched later this year; it proposes to soft land a wheeled robotic vehicle to explore the surface of the moon.

Regardless of whether it succeeds or not, Isro has undoubtedly ensured its place in history. The trick will be in emulating the Isro story in other sectors. Till that time, Make in India will continue to remain a WIP (work in progress).

Understanding the Uttarakhand forest fire

As a major forest fire ravages the forests of Uttarakhand, some experts suggest poor rainfall, El Nino and climate warming as causes, while some others point fingers at miscreants.

In terms of the incidences of forest fires, this year is particularly bad. According to data from the environment ministry, a total of 18,451 incidents of forest fires were reported from across the country in 2013, compared with 19,054 in 2014 and 15,937 in 2015. This year has seen a jump, with at least 20,667 fires already reported as on 21 April.

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Here’s what you need to know about the Uttarakhand forest fire and how India’s forests are prone to fires:

What is happening?

In December 2015, the environment ministry released the India State of Forest Report. According to the report, India’s forest cover is 701,673 sq. km which is about 21.34% of the country. As per the Forest Survey of India data, almost 50% of India’s forest areas are fire prone but this does not mean that fires affect 50% of the country’s area annually.

The major forest fire season in the country varies from February to June. Reports have estimated that about 6.17% of Indian forests are subjected to severe fire damage annually. According to Ravi Chopra, an environmentalist and a former member of the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA), high temperatures with no atmospheric moisture were the major reason for this year’s fires.

“This year, the major cause is the high temperature and the lack of rainfall. There has been speculation about it being a man-made fire but there is no proof as such,” Chopra said. Forest fires can have environmental as well as human-made causes. High atmospheric temperatures and dryness offer favourable conditions for a fire to start, but in India several forest fires are human-made for new flush of grass and agricultural practices like shifting cultivation.

According to James Randerson, professor of Earth System Science at the University of California, Irvine, environmental factors are critically important in determining the severity of a fire season. “In many forest ecosystems, reduced precipitation before and during the dry season can reduce fuel moisture and lower humidity near the surface, allowing fires to more easily escape from human control, and spread more rapidly over the landscape,” Randerson explained. “Low fuel moisture levels also make fires hotter, allow them to consume more fuel, and kill more of the trees inside the fire perimeter,” he said in an email to Mint.

Could El Nino have played a role?

The 2015-16 El Nino which is one of the strongest on record, has turned global weather systems upside down. In 2015, Indonesia was severely hit by forest fires, affecting 2 million hectares of land along with 45 million people and 250,000 hectares of crop area in 2015, according to Regional Integrated Multi-Hazard Early Warning System. The National Aeronautical and Space Administration (NASA), US, said that one of the most predictable consequences of a strong El Niño is a change in rainfall patterns over Indonesia. “This dry weather was especially problematic because it intensified seasonal fires, which are intentionally lit by farmers to clear land and manage crops,” according to NASA.

So could El Nino have played a role in India’s forest fires? “Climate change is causing a gradual but highly significant increasing trend in surface air temperatures, and it leads to record breaking extremes in many areas when it interacts with the normal periodic warming associated with an El Nino,” said Randerson. An important climate variable for fire is vapour pressure deficit, he explained. Vapour pressure deficit is a measure that combines temperature and relative humidity near the surface. Warmer temperatures and lower humidity cause vapour pressure deficit to increase which can dry fuels rapidly and allow fires to grow very fast.

“From a wildfire perspective, interactions between El Nino and climate warming can create new extremes in fire behaviour that are driven both by rainfall deficits and extreme temperatures,” said Randerson.

What is the damage?

Though the exact damage is yet to be ascertained, environment minister Prakash Javadekar said around 1,900 hectares of forest area is affected. Forest officials fear wildlife could have faced problems too.

India has very poor data regarding forest fire and damages caused by them. Losses like carbon sequential capability, soil moisture and nutrient losses due to forest fire are very difficult to be ascertained but are of utmost importance for environmental conservation. It also contributes to global warming.

What is the government doing about the forest fire in Uttarakhand?

On Sunday, the government said over 6,000 personnel from various state and central agencies are working to put out the raging forest fire in Uttarakhand. Javadekar said all top officers of the forest division are in Uttarakhand right now. “Our first priority is to douse the fire. We will then investigate if there is any foul play,” Javadekar added.

The worst forest fires in the last 25 years

According to a report, Forest Fire Disaster Management, by the National Institute of Disaster Management under the Union home ministry, the four worst forest fires in the last 20-25 years are:

1. 1995- Around 375,000 hectares area affected in Uttarakhand

2. 1999 – Around 80,000 hectares area in Ganga-Yamuna watershed

3. 2008 – About 10,000 hectares area in Melghat, Maharashtra

4. 2010 – Around 19,000 hectare forest area in Himachal Pradesh

From censor to certifier

A committee headed by film-maker Shyam Benegal has made a progressive and well-timed recommendation to the information and broadcasting (I&B) ministry that the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) should not impose excision on films and its role be limited to certification. This suggestion implies that the Board would have to jettison its proclivity to ban films or modify content and limit itself to certification under specific categories such as Adult, U12 or U15 (i.e. fit for viewing by those below 12 or 15 years of age) and so on. It is telling that for years, the CBFC has been baldly known by "Censor Board" - and it appears to have lived up to this relatively pejorative label in the new century. The roster of films the board has banned in the 2000s covers those that deal with the rights of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender), Islamic terrorists, the Gujarat riots, Hindu social mores, the Catholic church, sex, nudity and even one on Doon School.

Under the leadership of a self-proclaimed acolyte of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Pahlaj Nihalani, the Censor Board's activities touched new heights of absurdity. Last year, reportedly in consultation with a junior I&B minister, it thought fit to issue a list of acceptable Hindi swear-words to be used in cinema. It also recommended that kissing scenes be excised from the James Bond movie Spectre (did the Board really think that Indian audiences believed 007 was a celibate?). This year, it certified Jungle Book as U/A (that is, acceptable for children watching under adult supervision) on grounds that scenes of animated animals jumping out of the screen may frighten younger children - this for a generation that is weaned on video games depicting far greater violence.

Such escalating intervention suggests that the CBFC's role is that of an arbiter of Indian culture defined by the government of the day. This is out of sync with the demands of a modern and modernising society in an evolving democracy like India. In any country, it is possible that some people will be unhappy with some aspect of every movie that is released. In a uniquely multi-cultural society like India, this issue gets magnified several-fold. Governments, ever conscious of specific vote banks, can be expected to be vulnerable to such blandishments. To have a regulator affiliated to the government to carry out each ruling dispensation's cultural agenda is unhealthy and undesirable. The en masse resignation of the previous Board on account of being overruled on its decision to ban a tawdry film by a religious sect underlines the inevitable tensions between politics and culture in a free society. Definitions of obscenity or other cultural values are decisions that cannot be arbitrated.

Besides, it is all too well known that proscription is ultimately self-defeating thanks to the time-honoured and widespread traditions of samizdat values in all societies. In the old days it was manifest in the robust market for pirated films and music; today, technology makes access to banned films/scenes even easier via such open-sharing platforms as Torrents, among others. Indeed, it is a sign of a confident and mature society when censorship is applied with a light touch and that is the direction in which the Benegal panel is clearly pointing. It is also true that the movie industry has not helped itself in this regard. For example, the US movie industry suffered similar controversies from the early days and eventually sought a solution in the chaos of multiple censor boards by creating a self-regulating association headed by a paid professional. Though its functioning was far from perfect and controversies abounded, it evolved over the years into a voluntary movie classification system called the Motion Picture Code that rates a movie on the way the content is handled. Self-regulation is a handy principle for all creative businesses to follow - whether the media, art dealers, book publishers or the music industry - because it provides the best bulwark against the politicisation of culture.

Maiden Sea Trial of Kalvari - First Scorpene Class Submarine

Maiden Sea Trial of Kalvari - First Scorpene Class Submarine

 ‘Kalvari’, the first of the Scorpene class submarines, being built at the Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd Mumbai (MDL), went to sea for the first time today. The submarine sailed out at about 1000 hrs under her own propulsion for the first sea trial, off the Mumbai coast and during the sortie. A number of number of preliminary tests on the propulsion system, Auxiliary Equipment and Systems, Navigation Aids, Communication Equipment and Steering gear. Various Standard Operating Procedures were also validated for this new class of submarines. The submarine then returned to harbor in the evening.

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The background brief of the project and development is attached.

MAIDEN SEA TRIAL OF FIRST SCORPENE SUBMARINE – 01 MAY 2016

‘Kalvari’, the first of the Scorpene class submarines, built at the Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd Mumbai (MDL), went to sea for the first time today. The submarine sailed out at about 1000 hrs under her own propulsion for the first sea trial, off the Mumbai coast and during the sortie, completed a number of preliminary tests on the propulsion system, Auxiliary Equipment and Systems, Navigation Aids, Communication Equipment and Steering gear. Various Standard Operating Procedures were also validated for this new class of submarines. The submarine then returned to harbor in the evening.

This important milestone was achieved by MDL after overcoming a number of challenges faced since launching of the submarine last year in October. During the next few months, the submarine will undergo a barrage of sea trials, including surface trials, diving trials, weapon trials, Noise trials etc. which would test the submarine to the extremes of its intended operating envelop. Thereafter she would be commissioned into the Indian Navy as INS Kalvari later this year. Commissioning of Kalvari will be a re-affirmation of India’s capability to build submarines and a major boost for the ‘Make in India’ programme of the government.

           

            In April last year, the Hon’ble Raksha Mantri had visited MDL and directed that all out effort be made to complete the project in time. Accordingly, the teams from MDL, Indian Navy and DCNS have been working round the clock. Today, with the first sea sortie of Kalvari,  MDL has achieved a major project milestone.

Leveraging on the experience and the transfer-of-technology of the Scorpene project, and with the enhanced and upgraded infrastructure, MDL is ready for undertaking future submarine and shipbuilding projects, in order to meet the growing requirements of National Security.

Background

           

India joined the exclusive group of submarine constructing nations on                 07 February 1992, with the commissioning of the first Indian built submarine, INS Shalki. That was indeed a proud day for Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd, who had built this submarine. Mazagon Dock then went on to commission another submarine, INS Shankul, on 28 May 1994. These submarines are still in service today, after more than 20 years; testimony to the skills and capability of Mazagon Dock.

 

The ongoing project for the construction of six Scorpene class submarines, has M/s DCNS of France, as Collaborator and includes ‘Transfer of Technology’, with M/s MDL as the ‘Builder’.

Operational Features

            The state-of-art features of the Scorpene include superior stealth and the ability to launch a crippling attack on the enemy using precision guided weapons. The attack can be launched with torpedoes, as well as tube launched anti-ship missiles, whilst underwater or on surface. The Stealth features give it invulnerability, unmatched by many submarines.

The Scorpene Submarine is designed to operate in all theatres including the Tropics. All means and communications are provided to ensure interoperability with other components of a Naval Task Force. It can undertake multifarious types of missions typically undertaken by any modern submarine i.e  Anti-Surface warfare, Anti-Submarine warfare, Intelligence gathering, Mine Laying, Area Surveillance etc.

Construction Features

Submarines are built from special steel, capable of withstanding high yield stress and having high tensile strength, thereby allowing them to withstand high hydrostatic force and enabling them to dive deeper to further enhance stealth.

            The Submarine is built according to the principle of Modular Construction, which involves dividing the submarine into a number of sections and building them parallelly. The equipment is mounted onto Cradles and then embarked into the sections. The complexity of the task increases exponentially as it involves laying of around 60 kms of cabling and 11 kms of piping in extremely congested and limited space inside the submarine. Further, the stringent tolerances laid down for the construction of the Scorpene were indeed a challenge, but have been successfully achieved.

Other Features

The Scorpene is equipped with Weapons Launching Tubes (WLT), and can carry weapons on board which can be easily reloaded at sea, through special handling and loading equipment. The array of weapons and complex sensors fitted on board the Scorpene are managed by a high technology Combat Management System, which integrates various diverse systems fitted onboard into One Formidable Whole.

Status of Submarine

            The submarine was undocked on pontoon on 06 April 2015 in the presence of Hon’ble Raksha Mantri Shri Manohar Parrikar. After completing the important milestones of vacuum test and battery loading, the submarine was launched at the Naval Dockyard on 28 Oct 15 and thereafter brought back to MDL for completion of the Basin trials and Harbour Acceptance trials phase.

             After conquering numerous challenges faced during the ‘Setting to Work’ phase and undergoing rigorous harbour tests & trials to the complete satisfaction of the customer, the submarine is now fully ready to undergo for sea trials. 

‘Kalvari’ : The Tiger Shark

Kalvari is the dreaded Tiger Shark, a deadly deep sea predator. As is the tradition, ships and submarines of the Navy, are brought alive after decommissioning. The first Kalvari, which was also the first Indian submarine, was commissioned into the Indian Navy on 08 December 1967. She was decommissioned on 31 May 1996 after almost 30 years of yeoman service to the nation. In true nautical traditions, she will now be re-incarnated, by Mazagon Dock, once again a powerful predator of the deep, guarding the vast maritime interests and areas of our nation.

            The commissioning of Yard 11875 (Kalvari),  will not only mark a generational shift in technology, insofar as submarine construction in India is concerned, but also for submarine operations by the Indian Navy.

Contribution to National Security and Nation Building

With it’s history of constructing the Leander and Godavari class Frigates, Khukri class Corvettes, Delhi and Kolkata class Destroyers, Shivalik class Stealth Frigates,  1241 RE Missile Boats and the Shalki class submarines, there is now no doubt that MDL has deservedly earned the soubriquet ‘Warship and Submarine Builders to the Nation’.  

            MDL’s contribution to national security and nation building will continue with the P-15B class destroyers, the first of which was launched in April 2015, and the P-17A class stealth frigates, the follow-on of the P-17 Stealth Frigates.