Prime Minister dedicates Pipavav Shipyard to the nation

New Delhi, June 1 (ANI): The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh on Tuesday dedicated Pipavav Shipyard to the nation.

In his inaugural address on this occasion, Dr. Singh said: "I understand that the Pipavav Shipyard, which has been set up on the Saurashtra coast of Gujarat, is one of the most modern shipyards in India and I note the commitment of the management to provide our country with the best available shipyards anywhere in the world and I compliment you for this commitment."

"This shipyard has been developed to have one of the largest dry dock and wet dock facilities in the world, with the state-of-the-art technology which can be used for construction of vessels relating to oil, gas and defence sectors," said Dr. Singh while adding: "I hope this modern facility will set new benchmarks in quality and efficiency for our country."

Reminiscing his student days at University of Cambridge, Dr. Singh said: "Some 50 years ago when I was a student at the University of Cambridge I had a very famous teacher Lord Nicolas Kaldor and he often used to say that there is no technical necessity for any social and economic system to do better than another. It all depends upon the character, the mindset and motivation of people who make all the ruling decisions of a nation's life. And what I have been told by Shri Nikhil Gandhi, I am truly impressed by the commitment to innovation, farsighted vision, commitment to do things the best possible way, commitment to get away from the 'chalta hai' tradition which has often I think held our country back."

The Prime Minister congratulated Nikhil Gandhi and the management of Pipavav Shipyard for a massive contribution to nation building activities of our country.

"I have often said India is destined to be a major trading nation of the world and if India is destined to be a major trading nation of the world, I think shipping, ship building and management of our ports assume great importance in our scheme of development planning," said Dr. Singh.(ANI)