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India's first indigenous aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant, the largest ship ever built in India's maritime history, will be commissioned here on Friday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who arrived here on Thursday, will commission the warship, housing state-of-the-art automation features and built at a cost of Rs 20,000 crore, at the Cochin Shipyard.
The Prime Minister will also unveil the new Naval Ensign (Nishaan), doing away with the colonial past on the occasion.
Modi has described September 2 as a "landmark day for India's efforts to become Aatmanirbhar in the defence sector" as the first indigenously designed and built aircraft carrier INS Vikrant will be commissioned.
A host of dignitaries including Defence Minister Rajnath, Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Governor Arif Mohamad Khan, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Ernakulam MP Hibi Eden, Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar and top officials of Navy and Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) will attend the one-and-a-half hour long commissioning ceremony being organised at the shipyard.
The commissioning of INS Vikrant has assumed greater significance amid the ongoing border standoff with China along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh where the People’s Liberation Army has opened several fronts since April 2020 and is estimated to have taken over nearly 1,000sqkm of India-claimed territory.
According to a defence ministry official, the new warship will have a fleet of 30 aircraft — 18 MiG 29s and 12 choppers. Besides Kamov military helicopters, the newly inducted MH60 Romeo helicopters bought from the US, with potent anti-submarine warfare capabilities, will also be on board. The flying deck is 262 metres in length and 62.4 metres wide, which is as good as two football grounds in terms of area, and it has two demarcated runways with spots circled for helicopters.
Vikrant is India’s largest warship and has a capacity to displace 43,000 tonnes when fully loaded and can accommodate 1,600 personnel that include specialised cabins to accommodate women officers and sailors.
Sources said India was worried over growing influence of China in the Indian Ocean region.