Kolkata: It was visibly an emotional moment for GRSEians as the extraordinary tenure of the CMD who successfully steered the defence shipbuilder through the most testing times, comes to an end. GRSE CMD Rear Admiral VK Saxena, IN (Retd.) superannuated on Feb 28, 2022. The farewell ceremony was organised on March 02, Wednesday. "Thanks to Rear Admiral Saxena's vision on raising the bar higher in the sphere of infrastructure enhancement, GRSE is now positioned to construct 20 ships concurrently using state of the art Advanced Modular Integrated Shipbuilding Technology and modernisation of facilities in all three ship production locations", GRSE said in an official statement.
After an illustrious career spanning over three decades in the Indian Navy, RAdm VK Saxena, took over as the GRSE CMD on March 01, 2017. "Right from day one his leadership as CMD GRSE has been marked by remarkable adroitness in making his vision a reality while putting people first and celebrating targets together", the statement added.
It was in his tenure that GRSE achieved the distinction of delivering 15 warships in a short span of 60 months. Under the dynamic leadership of Admiral VK Saxena, GRSE also created history by delivering the "100th Warship", a Landing Craft Utility, L-56 on March 30, 2019, to the Indian Navy. With this achievement, the GRSE became the first Indian Shipyard to build and deliver 100 warships to our Maritime Forces. "It is because of his insight, and ability to think out of the box, that GRSE has clinched highly coveted deals. The Shipyard is currently executing 06 prestigious projects of 23 ships including ships for exports", it said.
With Admiral VK Saxena's focused approach towards capacity enhancement, GRSE has remained committed to adopting AI-enabled operations in Design, Production and Supply Chain Management. The defence PSU is all set today for major transformation powered by knowledge, skill, operational capabilities, brand equity, and a dedicated team.
"His striking leadership qualities have been duly recognised not only by the people he worked with but also by Awards conferred to him in person", the statement said. RAdm Saxena was also conferred upon the 'CEO of the Year', award at Asian Leadership Awards 2021. Being recognized as one of the "Next Fortune 500 Companies of India" is another distinguished laurel received by GRSE recently.
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