India’s ambition to grow its navy past 200 ships within the next decade has taken on fresh urgency as China expands the world’s largest naval fleet and Pakistan adds advanced Chinese-built attack submarines, heightening New Delhi’s anxieties in the Indian Ocean.
Analysts see this month’s commissioning of the stealth frigate INS Mahendragiri and submarine hunter INS Malvan this month as a symbol of that effort: both domestically built warships presented as evidence that New Delhi can scale up its fleet while reducing dependence on foreign suppliers.
Mahendragiri, designed by the Indian Navy’s Warship Design Bureau and built by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders with 75 per cent indigenous content, embodies Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s drive for atmanirbharta (self-reliance) across critical industries, defence being chief among them.
It is the sixth Nilgiri-class ship to enter service. A seventh, Vindhyagiri – the last of its class – is set to follow within months, with seven or eight “next generation” warships, code-named Project-17 Bravo, already queued up.
India’s navy currently numbers around 150 vessels, of which some 135 are thought to be classified as frontline combatants such as frigates, destroyers and submarines. Roughly 50 more are under construction.