The Navy is getting a new specialised force called “Sagar Prahari Bal” comprising 1000 personnel for protecting naval assets and bases on both East and West coasts and the Island territories. Along with this, 80 Fast Interception Crafts will be procured for sea front patrolling by this force. A new Regional HQ will be set up in Gujarat under the newly created post of COMCG, North-West, to look after surveillance off the coast of Gujarat.
Joint Operation Centres (JOCs) at Mumbai, Visakhapatnam, Kochi and Port Blair will be set up under the charge of existing Naval C-in-Cs. The JOCs will be jointly manned and operated by the Navy and Coast Guard with inputs from diverse agencies including Coast Guard, Navy and concerned Central and State Government agencies. The Naval C-in-Cs will be designated as the C-in-Cs Coastal Defence.
The government has approved setting up of nine additional Coast Guard stations to integrate into the ‘hub-and-spoke concept’ with coastal police stations along with manpower. These stations are to be located at Karwar, Ratnagiri, Vadinar, Gopalpur, Minicoy, Androth, Karaikal, Hutbay and Nizampatnam.