• Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal attended an MoU signing ceremony between Kolkata-based Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Limited (GRSE) and Norway’s Kongsberg Oslo. 

• The MoU was signed on the sidelines of Nor-Shipping 2025, a maritime trade fair in Oslo, Norway.

• The MoU paves the way for India to build its first ever Polar Research Vessel (PRV) indigenously.

• The MoU marks an important milestone for India’s shipbuilding sector as it will receive design expertise for developing the PRV, while taking into account the requirement of National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCOPR), which will use it for research activities in the polar and southern ocean realms.

• GRSE will build this PRV in its yard in Kolkata, ensuring a boost to the government’s ‘Make In India’ initiative.

• The vessel will be equipped with the latest scientific equipment, enabling our researchers to explore the oceans’ depths, study marine ecosystems, and unlock new insights into our planet’s past, present, and future.

National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR)

• The National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR) was established as an autonomous institute of the Ministry of Earth Sciences (formerly Department of Ocean Development) on May 25, 1998.

• With a mission mandate that is quite challenging, the Centre is designated as the nodal organisation for the coordination and implementation of the Indian Antarctic Programme, including the maintenance of India’s permanent station in Antarctica.

• NCPOR is situated in Goa.

• Year-round maintenance of the two Indian stations (Maitri & Bharati) in Antarctica is the primary responsibility of the Centre. 

• Maitri (1989) and Bharati (2011) were established, for carrying out research by Indian scientists in all disciplines of polar research. These stations have been provided with comfortable living accommodations, state of the art laboratories and well-equipped library and communication systems.

• NCPOR has the governing body comprising 13 members representing a cross section of the country's leadership in polar and ocean sciences, research education and administration. 

• Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, is the chairman (ex-officio) of the governing body.

(The author is a trainer for Civil Services aspirants.)