Indian Navy voices concern at slow shipbuilding pace

Addressing the annual Navy Day news conference in India, Adm. Nirmal Verma, India’s Navy chief, said, “We need to revisit the building strategies of the defence shipyards. There is a need to do much more. Construction schedule is where our shipyards lag. The reason for delays is the basic method of construction.”

India’s shipbuilding capacity is saturated and the navy plans to put into service more warships at a faster pace to replace the large number of vessels to be scrapped in the next five years, said an Indian naval officer. The navy has ordered 34 ships from three different shipyards, but the rate of delivery is only one ship per year, Verma said.

The navy plans to order weaponry and equipment worth more than $15 billion in the next 10 to 12 years. Under a long-term plan approved last year, the navy will procure 60 new warships, submarines, one additional aircraft carrier, maritime surveillance aircraft, a dedicated satellite and other sea-based assets. India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier will be launched next year and commissioned in 2014, and indications are that a second homemade carrier may also be approved. “We are re-looking at the design. It won’t be a copy of what we have today,” Verma said.

The homemade aircraft carrier, the 40,000 ton Air Defence Ship, is under construction at the state-owned Kochi shipyard. India’s only aircraft carrier, INS Viraat, is due to retire in 2013.