New Delhi, May 26 (IANS) The Indian Coast Guard will soon get to train officers at its own academy which is to come up at Azhikkal in Kannur district of Kerala.

Defence Minister A.K. Antony will lay the foundation stone of the Indian Coast Guard Academy (ICGA) Saturday.

"The ICGA will come up on 164-acre campus near Valapattanam estuary on the Arabian Sea in Azhikkal in Kannur district of northern Kerala. It is located about 20 km south of Indian Naval Academy at Ezhimala," a defence ministry spokesperson said in a statement here Thursday.

The two maritime academies are expected to share some training and infrastructure in the Kerala backwaters.

The Coast Guard personnel are traditionally trained at the Indian Naval Academy. But in the backdrop of the November 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, it was decided by the government to significantly increase the Coast Guard's force, their infrastructure and assets.

Owing to the increased intake of cadets, it was felt that separate facilities to impart specialized training are required.

The establishment of ICGA received the approval of the government in 2009 and the land for the project was acquired from Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (KINFRA).

"The ICGA will cater for all maritime specific courses for personnel of the coast guard, navy, marine police and members of the littoral countries on faculties like search and rescue, marine oil spill response, maritime law, fisheries, boarding and rummaging, technical and managerial staff. It will have state of the art infrastructure for training to meet the increasing maritime challenges," the spokesperson added.