PM to commission India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier on 2 Sep
Premium- With the commissioning of INS Vikrant, India will have two operational aircraft carriers, which will bolster the maritime security of the nation
NEW DELHI : Prime Minister Narendra Modi will commission India’s first indigenously designed and built aircraft carrier ‘INS Vikrant’ on 2 September at Cochin Shipyard Limited in Kochi.
In a statement, the prime minister’s office (PMO) on Tuesday said that the prime minister will be on a visit to Kerala and Karnataka on 1-2 September.
“In what will mark a significant step towards self-reliance in the defence sector, prime minister will commission the first indigenously designed and built aircraft carrier as INS Vikrant. Designed by Indian Navy’s in-house Warship Design Bureau (WDB) and built by Cochin Shipyard Limited, a public sector shipyard under the ministry of ports, shipping & waterways, Vikrant has been built with state of the art automation features and is the largest ship ever built in maritime history of India," it said.
The indigenous aircraft carrier is named India’s first aircraft carrier which had played a key role in the 1971 war. It has a large number of indigenous equipment and machinery, involving major industrial houses in the country as well as over 100 MSMEs.
With the commissioning of Vikrant, India will have two operational aircraft carriers, which will bolster the maritime security of the nation. During the event, Modi will also unveil the new naval ensign, doing away with the colonial past and denoting the Indian maritime heritage. A naval ensign denotes the nationality of naval ships.
Further, in Mangaluru, Karnataka, the prime minister will inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of mechanization and industrialization projects worth around ₹3,800 crore. He will inaugurate the project worth over ₹280 crore for mechanization of a berth for handling containers and other cargo, undertaken by the New Mangalore Port Authority. The mechanized terminal will increase efficiency and reduce turnaround time, pre-berthing delay and dwell time in the port by around 35%, giving a boost to the business environment.
The first phase of the project has been completed, thereby adding over 4.2 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) to the handling capacity, which would further increase to over 6 MTPA by 2025.
He will also lay the foundation stone of five projects worth around ₹1,000 crore, undertaken by the port. The integrated LPG and Bulk Liquid POL facility, equipped with state of the art cryogenic LPG storage tank terminal, will be capable of unloading full load VLGC (very large gas carriers) of 45,000 tonnes in a highly efficient manner.
The facility will bolster Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana in the region while reinforcing the port’s status as one of the top LPG importing ports in the country.
He will lay the foundation stone of projects for construction of storage tanks and edible oil refinery among others, along with the inauguration of two projects undertaken by Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited -- BS VI Upgradation Project and Sea Water Desalination Plant.
The BS VI Upgradation Project, worth around ₹1,830 crore, will facilitate production of ultra-pure environment friendly BS-VI grade fuel. The Sea Water Desalination Plant, set up at a cost of around ₹680 crore, will help reduce dependency on fresh water and ensure regular supply of hydrocarbons and petrochemicals throughout the year.
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