NEW DELHI: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday said keeping the Indo-Pacific region open, safe and secure is the primary objective of the Indian Navy.
Rajnath said, “The Indo-Pacific region is significant for the world economy. In such a scenario, being a responsible stakeholder of this region, it becomes the primary objective of the Indian Navy to keep the Indo-Pacific open, safe and secure.”
The Defence Minister was addressing personnel of the Indian Navy and the Mazgaon Dockyard Limited in Mumbai during the launch of two indigenous Indian Navy frontline warships -- Surat (Guided Missile Destroyer) and Udaygiri (Stealth Frigate) -- in Mumbai. Rajnath said warships help project India’s strategic strength and self-reliance prowess to the world.
Rajnath said that a strong Naval force is a must for safeguarding national interests and making India a global power. The Defence Minister lauded the Indian Navy for securing the Indo-Pacific and called for bolstering India in the region amid an ever-evolving security scenario.
The Indian economy is one of the world’s fastest growing economies and the majority of trade is done through sea routes. Hence the country's interests are directly linked to the Indian Ocean.
When seen in a wider perspective, the Indo-Pacific region is a key route as more than two-thirds of oil shipments, one-third bulk cargo and more than half of the container traffic passes through it.
India’s bid to add maritime capability through indigenous means is bearing fruit with the construction of Surat and Udaygiri. The ships have been launched after the hull was completed and the machinery and major systems have been fitted into it while it was at dry dock. The work will continue further and the next stage will be to put the ships to rigorous sea-trials to test their machinery and systems.
As per the Navy, “The Project 15B class of ships are the next generation stealth guided missile destroyers of the Indian Navy being built at the Mazgaon Docks Ltd, Mumbai.”
Surat is the fourth ship of Project 15B Destroyers which heralds a significant makeover of the P15A (Kolkata Class) destroyers and is named after the commercial capital of Gujarat and also the second-largest commercial hub of western India after Mumbai, the Navy said.
The contract for the construction of four ships under Project-15B was signed in January 2011 at a cost of about Rs 29,643.74 crore. The final cost of the project is Rs 35,000 crore.
Surat will be among the largest destroyers made in the country and has an overall length of 163 metres and displacement of over 7,400 tonnes. Udaygiri will be around 142 metres with a displacement of 6,200 tonnes.
The stealth frigate Udaygiri, named after a mountain range in Andhra Pradesh, is the third ship of Project 17A Frigates. It was approved in 2015 with a total project cost of Rs 45,000 crore at that time. These are follow-ups of the P17 frigates (three ships of Shivalik Class) with improved stealth features, advanced weapons and sensors and platform management systems. It is the reincarnation of the erstwhile Udaygiri, the Leander Class ASW frigate, which served the country for over three decades from 1976 to 2007. A total of seven ships, with four at MDL and three at GRSE, are under construction.