September 2, 2022
NEW DELHI – India’s first indigenously-built aircraft carrier INS Vikrant at Cochin Shipyard Limited in Kochi will be commissioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 2.
Modi will also go on Karnataka and Kerala visits on September 1 and 2. He will visit Sri Adi Shankara Janma Bhoomi Kshetram on September 1 evening. It is the holy birthplace of Adi Shankaracharya at Kalady village near Cochin Airport.
On September 2, he will commission the first indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant at Cochin Shipyard Limited followed by the inauguration and laying of the foundation stone of projects worth around Rs 3,800 crore in Mangaluru.
In a statement, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said that Modi has been a strong proponent of Aatmanirbharta, especially in strategic sectors.
“In what will mark a significant step towards self-reliance in the defense sector, the Prime Minister will commission the first indigenously designed and built aircraft carrier as INS Vikrant. Designed by the Indian Navy’s in-house Warship Design Bureau (WDB) and built by Cochin Shipyard Limited, a Public Sector Shipyard under the Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways, Vikrant has been built with state-of-the-art automation features and is the largest ship ever built in the maritime history of India,” the PMO said in a statement.
The Indigenous Aircraft Carrier is named after its illustrious predecessor, India’s first Aircraft Carrier which had played a vital role in the 1971 war. It has a large number of indigenous equipment and machinery, involving major industrial houses in the country as well as over 100 MSMEs. With the commissioning of Vikrant, India will have two operational Aircraft Carriers, which will bolster the maritime security of the nation.
During the event, the Prime Minister will also unveil the new Naval Ensign (Nishaan), doing away with the colonial past and befitting the rich Indian maritime heritage.
In Mangaluru, the Prime Minister will inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of mechanization and industrialization projects worth around Rs 3,800 crore.
The Prime Minister will inaugurate the project worth over Rs 280 crore for mechanization of Berth No. 14 for handling containers and other cargo, undertaken by the New Mangalore Port Authority.
The mechanized terminal will increase efficiency and reduce the turnaround time, pre-berthing delay, and dwell time in the Port by around 35 percent, thus giving a boost to the business environment. Phase I of the project has been successfully completed, thereby adding over 4.2 MTPA to the handling capacity, which would further increase to over 6 MTPA by 2025.
The Prime Minister will lay the foundation stone of five projects worth around Rs 1,000 crore, undertaken by the port. The integrated LPG and Bulk Liquid POL Facility, equipped with state of an art cryogenic LPG storage tank terminal, will be capable of unloading full load VLGC (very large gas carriers) of 45,000 tonnes in a highly efficient manner.
The Prime Minister will also inaugurate two projects undertaken by Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited — BS VI Upgradation Project and Sea Water Desalination Plant. The BS VI Upgradation Project, worth around Rs 1,830 crores, will facilitate the production of ultra-pure environment-friendly BS-VI grade fuel (with sulfur content less than 10 PPM).
The Sea Water Desalination Plant, set up at a cost of around Rs 680 crore, will help reduce dependency on fresh water and ensure a regular supply of hydrocarbons and petrochemicals throughout the year. Having a capacity of 30 Million Litres per Day (MLD), the plant converts seawater into water required for the refinery processes.