India steadily building its naval strength, but the usual challenges remain

Inadequate budgets, delays in placing orders and then in construction, poorly coordinated delivery schedules, and the China factor present manifold challenges for the navy, notes T N Ninan

These last few weeks have been busy for the navy. It has just commissioned the INS Mormugao, a 7,400-tonne destroyer. Three months ago the prime minister commissioned the country’s first indigenously built aircraft carrier, the 45,000-tonne Vikrant. The navy may also be about to commission its second nuclear ballistic missile submarine, the INS Arighat — the precise date will remain secret. Meanwhile, the fifth conventional Scorpene submarine, the INS Vageer, has been delivered to the navy and will be commissioned early next year along with the first of a new class of frigates.

There is no previous period when the