Planet Scuba India to Drive #MakeInIndia Initiative for Scuba Diving Equipment
Bengaluru, NFAPost: The Defence Bioengineering and Electromedical Laboratory (DEBEL), a unit of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), on Thursday, flagged off India’s first-ever venture Planet Scuba India (PSI) to manufacture scuba diving equipment in the country.
Planet Scuba India (PSI), one of the country’s foremost scuba diving companies, and a forerunner in bringing innovation to the diving industry in India, will create an end-to-end dive equipment manufacturing eco-system in the country.
To this end, PSI has roped CREST Diving into designing and manufacturing of some of its high-end products in India.
To drive the Government of India’s MakeInIndia initiative, it has introduced Taiwanese design house CREST Diving for the development of state-of-the-art scuba diving equipment and manufacturing of some of its high-end products in India.
Scuba diving equipment manufacture is a multi-billion-dollar global industry requiring high-precision engineering skills to create underwater breathing and survival systems that can survive the rigours of deep oceans to fast flowing rivers and lakes.
The major global brands are based in Europe and the US. China manufactures lower-end products like masks, fins, snorkels and wetsuits. Higher-end products requiring precision engineering and quality such as critical breathing systems are mostly designed and manufactured in Taiwan.
India, despite its military prowess, and over 7,500 km of coastline, has no manufacturing capability in this sector. India is 100% import-dependent, spending nearly $100 million a year. The country already has the necessary infrastructure – from precision metal-shaping and mould-making to manufacturing various grades of plastics and associated polymer products – thanks to the efforts of DRDO and India’s space programme.
Planet Scuba India (PSI), an early starter in the country’s diving industry, having begun operations in 2008, has been importing and distributing diving equipment for the last 14 years. Now, encouraged by DEBEL and military divers, PSI’s two-pronged approach aims to not only help bring some of the best scuba diving technology to Indian shores, but also to provide the world an alternative to China for the manufacture of dive equipment.
Speaking at the launch of PSI products, DEBEL’s Joint Director Dr R Indu Shekar said DEBEL lauds this effort to bring manufacturing of diving equipment to India.
“It is a great step towards the government’s Atmanirbhar Bharat or Make in India initiative. DEBEL has already made great strides in developing several underwater breathing and survival products for the military, and will support all such ventures that lead to indigenisation of technology and products,” said DEBEL’s Joint Director Dr R Indu Shekar.
Expressing happiness over the growth of the company, Planet Scuba India (PSI) Managing Director Madhava Reddy said the Make In India initiative and the world’s need for an alternative to China have come together to give us a geo-strategic opportunity.
“This is our contribution to our passion for diving and the oceans. With help from Taiwan and CREST Diving, we will help bring India up-to- speed on existing technologies in diving, and then with help from Indian research agencies like DEBEL, create new products both for India and the world. We will do our best to create an eco-system in the country for the manufacture of underwater breathing equipment,” said Planet Scuba India (PSI) Managing Director Madhava Reddy.
PSI has already begun work on creating cutting-edge underwater products for use both by the Indian diving community and the world. “With help from DEBEL and other DRDO institutions, and CREST Diving, we are confident we will achieve our goal.”
Lauding the efforts of PSI, CREST Diving Managing Director Brad Chen said he has been in India for less than three days and he is already impressed with the engineering and diving skills here.
“We genuinely see India as not only a big market, but also a place we can co-develop products with our Indian partner. We thank Planet Scuba India and DEBEL for this opportunity,” said CREST Diving Managing Director Brad Chen.
About DEBEL:
DEBEL, a unit of DRDO, is responsible for developing dive equipment for the military. It has been carrying out R&D in bioengineering and electromedical technology related to defence. DEBEL also designs develops and evaluates state-of-the-art life support and biomedical systems and devices. It explores the utilization of spin-off technologies for civilian application, transfers technology to productisation and coordinates user evaluation and induction into services. Other areas of work include aeromedical engineering and life support systems and NBC protection.
About CREST Diving :
CREST Diving is synonymous with high-performance, lightweight and aesthetic product design. Their core team of highly experienced professionals boldly disrupt conventional product design thinking to develop innovative precision structures that comply with strict international certification. Their ethos is to create each product with care to ensure the best performance.
About Planet Scuba India :
Planet Scuba India is the largest supplier of dive equipment in the country. Founded in 2008, Planet Scuba India has been continuously growing its portfolio in the scuba industry by bringing world-class diving capabilities and diving equipment to the Indian market. In addition, Planet Scuba India has also actively been developing, manufacturing, and assembling scuba diving-related products in the country. A child of passion, it is now a powerhouse of innovation and opportunity. It is combining high growth in the nascent Indian diving industry through trading and services with innovations that could potentially make it a global leader in key underwater technologies.
(Scuba diving is a mode of underwater diving whereby divers use breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface air supply. The name ‘scuba’ is an acronym for ‘Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus’. There are other forms of underwater diving like Rebreathers and Saturation Diving, all of which require even more highly-engineered equipment. Commonly used equipment for scuba diving are regulators, scuba cylinders, buoyancy control device (jacket), wetsuit, fins, masks and snorkels.)
