48 warships being built locally

Vessels include aircraft carriers, destroyers, submarines, corvettes and fast attack craft

Hailing the country’s indigenous shipbuilding capabilities, Vice-Admiral P. Murugesan, deputy chief of the navy, yesterday said 48 warships are currently under construction in Indian shipyards.

These 48 ships being manufactured for the Indian Navy include aircraft carriers, frigates, destroyers, submarines, corvettes and fast attack crafts.

“The greatest news is that all these 48 ships are being built in Indian shipyards,” Murugesan said at the simultaneous launch of three Water Jet Fast Attack Crafts (WJFAC) at the Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd (GRSE) here.

“It is a reflection of our indigenous capabilities and a proud moment for all of us that our country has achieved such a status that we can build all kind of warships in India itself,” the vice admiral said.

“INS Vikrant, a 40,000-tonne warship, is being built at the Cochin shipyard. No other country in our neighbourhood is building such a large ship,” said Murugesan while referring to the country’s first indigenous aircraft carrier launched in 2013.

Murugesan also praised the GRSE, which has so far built 94 ships for the navy.

Credited with building the country’s first indigenous stealth anti-submarine warfare corvette, INS Kamorta, the GRSE is also India’s first shipyard to export a warship — CGS Barracuda — that was commissioned by the National Coast Guard of Mauritius in March.

The three WJFAC — Tarmugli, Tillanchang, Tihayu — are named after Andaman and Nicobar group of islands, and are among the four such warships being built by GRSE.