Indian Navy asks BJP to fund next phase of indigenous carrier build

Rahul Bedi, New Delhi - IHS Jane's Defence Weekly

02 June 2014



The Indian Navy (IN) is seeking INR160 billion (USD2.66 billion) over the next 2-3 years from the newly-elected Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government to resume construction of the Project 71 indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC).

Official sources told IHS Jane's that the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is expected to imminently clear a "significant portion" of the IN's financial demand to revive work on Phases II and III of the 40,000-tonne IAC at the Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) yard at Kochi in southern India.

The carrier was launched and named Vikrant in August 2013, with senior Naval Design Bureau (NDB) sources saying that 75% of the carrier's structure was complete. However, work on the carrier has virtually come to a standstill in recent months due to a resource crunch. This includes modular construction work and the installation of radar, sensors, and weapon systems.

Senior officials said the new CCS would require clearances from the Indian Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the federal Finance Ministry to approve the funds. The CCS of the outgoing Congress Party-led federal coalition had secured both of these approvals earlier in 2014 but failed to implement them - resulting in the near-suspension of work.

IN officials also warned that further delays in sanctioning additional funding for the IAC could delay its commissioning beyond its already extended 2017-18 deadline.

Three quarters of the basic structure of the IAC has been completed at an estimated cost of INR35-40 billion. The carrier is eventually expected to cost between INR240-250 billion.

IN Chief of Staff Admiral D K Joshi told IHS Jane's in January 2013 that work on the IAC had been delayed due to financial and technological hurdles, and a traffic accident involving the truck transporting the carrier's generators.

India currently operates INS Vikramaditya (ex- Admiral Gorshkov ), a modified Kiev-class 44,750-tonne carrier that entered service in January, and INS Viraat (ex-HMS Hermes ), a 54-year-old 28,000-tonne Centaur-class platform that has locally undergone multiple refits.



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