Indian Navy's Annual Refit Conference (ARC) and Annual Infrastructure Conference (AIC) commenced at Headquarters Eastern Naval Command, Visakhapatnam on 18 February 2020. The two-day conference chaired by Vice Admiral GS Pabby PVSM, AVSM, VSM, Chief of Materiel (COM), Integrated Headquarters, Ministry of Defence(Navy) was attended by all the stakeholders representing the Naval Headquarters, three Naval Commands, the Tri-Services Andaman & Nicobar Command at Port Blair, Dockyards, Repair Yards and Material Organisations of the Navy.  The delegates deliberated upon refit plans for all ships and submarines of the Indian Navy and formulate plans for infrastructure augmentation to meet the growing requirements of the Indian Navy.
The Chief of Materiel (COM) complimented the forum for ensuring quality refits of ships and submarines, with a focus on the safety of personnel and material. During the course of the conference, technical and logistics aspects concerning refits were deliberated at length with a special emphasis on enhanced efficiency/ capability of sea-going units. He also urged all concerned to focus on greater indigenisation in keeping with the spirit of the ‘Make in India' initiative.
The Annual Infrastructure Conference was held to review progress towards modernisation and augmentation of repair and refitting infrastructure in order to maintain the lethal edge of combat assets of the Indian Navy.