India builds naval might

Jostling for the same strategic space with China in the Indian Ocean and beyond, with the oil exploration stand-off in South China Sea being just the latest indicator, India is slowly, but surely, building a Navy for the future. A powerful three-dimensional Navy, which can protect India’s geo-strategic interests stretching from Hormuz Strait to Malacca Strait, will not come cheap. Neither will it be built overnight. In the pipeline are ongoing warship, submarine and maritime aircraft acquisition programmes as well as some concrete projects, which will together cost well upwards of Rs 3,00,000 crore. When Admiral Nirmal Verma on Saturday commissions the second fleet tanker from Italy, the 27,500-tonne INS Shakti, the Navy’s force-levels will stand at 132 ships, with just over 50 “major combatants” and 14 ageing submarines. But the numbers will dip in the coming months, with older ships slated for retirement. China, in contrast, has close to 100 major warships and over 60 submarines, and is now increasingly flexing its muscles in international waters. India cannot hope to match it. The good news, however, is there are 46 ships “on order” for the Navy at different domestic shipyards. Ranging from two aircraft carriers, six submarines and seven guided-missile destroyers to four anti-submarine warfare corvettes, nine naval offshore patrol vessels and eight amphibious craft, the combined price tag for these 50 ships comes to over Rs 1,00,000 crore. There are two other major projects taking concrete shape now. One, the Rs 52,000-crore “Project-75 India” to acquire six newgeneration stealth submarines. Seven more stealth frigates are to be built at MDL and GRSE (Kolkata) under “Project-17A” for around Rs 45,000 crore. This will follow the three 6,200-tonne stealth frigates built at MDL for Rs 8,101 crore.