NEW DELHI, (Reuters) – Prime Minister Narendra Modi commissioned India’s first home-built aircraft carrier yesterday, underlining his government’s efforts to boost domestic production to supply a military deployed on two contentious borders.
After 17 years of construction and tests, Modi commissioned the INS Vikrant – the navy’s second operational aircraft carrier and the largest warship ever built in India – at a state-run shipyard in the south.
“Today, India has joined those countries in the world which can manufacture such a huge aircraft carrier with indigenous technology,” Modi said. “It is a symbol of indigenous potential, indigenous resources and indigenous skills.”
Designed to accommodate a crew of about 1,600 and a fleet of 30 aircraft, the Vikrant will rely on Russian-designed MIG-29K aircraft that already operate from India’s other carrier, the INS Vikramaditya, which India bought from Russia.
Boeing BA.N and France’s Dassault AM.PA are seeking to provide India with more than two dozen jets for the Vikrant.
