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'Navy inventory needs rationalisation'

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI DEC. 7. In its first-ever study of the Indian Navy's inventory holdings, the Comptroller and Auditor-General has said that this segment is in urgent need of rationalisation. The current recorded level of inventory is twice the rational level of which over half is non-moving in all the three categories — naval stores, Russian stores and non-Russian stores.

According to the Naval Headquarters, the system was beset with difficulties in the manual mode. Efforts in rationalisation and reconciliation of balances have since resulted in the reduction of inventory from eight lakh items to five lakh items. Excess stocking was also attributed to multiple codes for the same item.

Out of the total inventory held in all depots, a considerable number is held only in ledgers. Many of them did not have any physical balance or had no transactions for a long time. The high percentage of non-moving inventory is an indicator of excess procurements in the past. The value of the total non-inventory cannot be ascertained as no costing has been done. "The holding of such huge non-moving inventories does not indicate a sound inventory management system,'' noted the report.

There were several instances of inventory being kept without a specific purpose. For instance, steel plates sourced from Russia as well as indigenously were held in stock for over10 years without utilisation. Also, shelf-life expired store items and aviation fuel and lubricants were lying as non-moving items without being segregated for disposal. Common items like soap, detergent, paints, polish etc., are lying long after their use-by-date had expired.

The NHQ has asserted that there has been a speeding up of disposal of expired items and as a result there has been a marked reduction in the categories of stores that have been presented.

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