Gujarat: President of India Ram Nath Kovind presented the prestigious President’s Colour to the Indian Naval Ship (INS) Valsura at a ceremony held at Jamnagar on 25 March 2022 . The 'Nishan Adhikari' Lieutenant Arun Singh Sambyal received the President’s Colour on behalf of the unit, in an impressive parade. The unit paraded a 150-men Guard of Honour for President. Over 800 officers and men of INS Valsura, looking spectacular in their ceremonial dresses, marched proudly to the tunes of the Naval Band.
Acharya Devvrat, Governor of Gujarat, Admiral R Hari Kumar, Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Admiral MA Hampiholi, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Naval Command along with other senior civil and military dignitaries graced the occasion. The President’s Colour is bestowed upon a military unit in recognition of exceptional service rendered to the nation, both in peace and in war. The Indian Navy was the first Indian Armed Force, to be awarded the President’s Colour by Dr Rajendra Prasad on 27 May 1951.
The legacy of INS Valsura dates back to 1942 when the operational necessity mandated the creation of an advanced Torpedo Training Facility to enhance the firepower of the Royal Indian Navy during World War II. Post India becoming a Republic, the unit was renamed INS Valsura on 01 July 1950. Thereon, INS Valsura has transformed itself into an epitome of professional technical training and has exponentially grown to keep pace with the Indian Navy’s modernisation plans.
The unit has always stayed ahead of the curve to equip the officers and sailors of the Indian Navy with requisite skill-sets to maintain and ensure combat worthiness of the increasingly complex weaponry and electronic systems besides keeping pace with the advancements in Information Technology. The unit imparts quality training on contemporary and niche technologies through progressive augmentation of training infrastructure. The setting up of Artificial Intelligence, Big Data and Medium Voltage labs in recent years exemplify its quest for technological excellence in contemporary technology also in training officers and sailors.
Overall, the establishment conducts more than 262 courses a year and has an annual training throughput of more than 750 officers and 4200 sailors. INS Valsura has also emerged as the preferred training destination for our Friendly Foreign Navies. 1800 trainees from 15 Friendly Foreign Navies have been trained till date from this premier institution.
