Building an invincible armada In its pursuit towards creating a blue-water navy, India is depending to a large extent on domestic shipbuilding firms. The recent indigenisation initiatives launched by the Government of India are expected to give a boost to the production of warships and other vessels required by the Indian Navy, in both public and private sectors
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urrounded by oceans on three sides, India has found it essential to maintain a strong navy as well as a robust defence shipbuilding industry in order to protect the nation’s sovereignty. Moreover, around 95% of the country’s trade by volume and over 70% by value takes place by sea and the Indian Navy is the chief player ensuring security in the Indian Ocean Region. Since the 1960s, the India’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) has acquired several shipyards and starting with the construction of Leander-class frigates at the Mazagaon Dock Ltd (MDL), Mumbai the Indian Navy has been developing a self-sufficient domestic shipbuilding industry. Moreover, the
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Indian Navy’s in-house designing capability has also improved. According to data, the Directorate of Naval Design has created blueprints for 19 ship classes and over 90 warships have been built. Significantly, more than 40 out of the over 50 ships and submarines on order are being constructed in Indian shipyards at present. India now has eight public sector shipyards and 13 major private shipyards. Of the eight governmentowned shipyards, two are under the Ministry of Shipping, four are under the MoD and the remaining two are state public sector undertakings. The major shipbuilding centres in India catering to the Indian
Navy are the following. MDL, Mumbai Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL), Mumbai is India’s top defence PSU shipyard under the MoD and has delivered projects such as the Nilgiri, Godavari, Delhi and Shivalik class frigates, Khukri class corvettes and Project 15A. MDL can undertake construction of vessels up to 40,000 DWT and its infrastructure consists of three dry docks, four slipways and three wet basins. In July 2016, the shipyard completed the augmentation of infrastructure through the Mazdock Modernisation Project. Major ships under construction
