AMID increased perception of terror strikes on vital industrial installations in Gujarat, the state government has decided to raise another battalion of State Reserve Police (SRP), exclusively to provide industrial security.

To be trained at par with the CISF, this special battalion will be deputed to provide security arrangements to industrial establishments that request for the same.

Gujarat Secretary (Home) T S Bisht, said: “This new SRP battalion will come up at Jamnagar by next year. All companies in the battalion will be equipped with advanced training and skills to enable them to thwart threats and terror attacks on industrial units in the state.”

In this regard, the state government has recently tied up with the CISF National Industrial Security Academy in Hyderabad for training a batch of 30 state police academy trainers there.

V M Pargi, Inspector General, Armed Unit, Gandhinagar, said: “This batch will leave for Hyderabad some time next month. After being trained on par with CISF personnel, these trainers will later train a handpicked group of 1,235 SRP personnel, who will form the Jamnagar battalion of the force.”

At present, Gujarat does not have any special industrial security unit, but several prominent corporate houses in the state avail SRP security cover for their establishments on personal payment basis.

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has been given an entire SRP battalion against an advance payment of Rs 20 crore (for a stipulated time period). RIL has got one SRP company and around 10 state police commandos for security at its refinery in Jamnagar.

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