Navy to push for new Chennai base in January meeting

CHENNAI: A crucial round of talks between the Indian

Navy

and the the chief secretary of Tamil Nadu in January will decide about the future of the naval base that is planned to be set up along the Chennai coast. The Navy will push for the land acquisition process at the meeting.

Making the announcement onboard the INS Sumitra on Friday, flag officer commanding Tamil Nadu and Puducherry naval area, rear admiral

Alok Bhatnagar

said he was “confident of complete support” from the Tamil Nadu government to help in the expansion of naval footprint in Tamil Nadu. Vice-admiral

Karambir Singh

, flag officer commanding-in-chief,

Eastern Naval Command

, is expected to represent the maritime force during the scheduled meeting with the chief secretary.

While the Navy earlier eyed a 100-acre land parcel on East Coast Road near Muttukadu, this is no longer an option. “The state government will help identify at least 100 acres near one of the villages on ECR.

Muttukadu

was an option but now we are looking further south,” he said, before adding that the Navy will also negotiate a land transfer in

Saidapet

for the same project. “The (Saidapet) land belongs to defence ministry,” he said.

The fallback option for the Navy, in case the ECR hunt is not a positive outcome, is the Chennai port. “There is sufficient space to anchor at least three ships at the (Chennai) port,” he said, but ruled out the addition of an aircraft carrier to the naval fleet in the proposed base.

Bhatnagar, who said the consultation (over land acquisition) with the government was at an advanced level, said that increasing Chinese footprint on Sri Lankan waters did not influence the decision to set up a permanent, new base in Chennai. “(Chennai) has a big harbour. It is a thriving metro city and is a seat of power. So, it was logical to have a greater presence. It (expansion plans) is also in line with the government of India’s Look East policy,” he said.

However, he refused to put a timeline to the when the base is expected to be operational.