President Droupadi Murmu launched the advanced stealth frigate INS Vindhyagiri on Thursday at the Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd (GRSE) building in Kolkata on the banks of the River Hooghly.
Mamata Banerjee, the Chief Minister of West Bengal, was there, as were Governor SCV Ananda Bose, Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar, and other high-level officials.
The GRSE has built six stealth frigates as part of Project 17A. The INS Vindhyagiri is the sixth one.
After the launch, the INS Vindhyagiri will join its two sister ships at the outfitting jetty at GRSE to work on the last few tasks and testing of equipment before they are delivered and put into service.
Plan 17A The next class of ships after the Project 17 (Shivalik Class) Frigates are the Frigates, which have better stealth features, more powerful weapons and sensors, and platform management systems.
Seven 17A Project Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) and GRSE are in different stages of making frigates.
Officials from India’s Defense Ministry say that launching INS Vindhyagiri will strengthen India’s defense industrial base. This will make India less reliant on foreign providers, encourage self-reliance, and help build a strong defense industrial base.
This is the third and final stealth frigate that the Kolkata-based shipbuilder was hired by the Navy to make as part of the project. The cutting-edge ship will be outfitted with the latest technology and put through a lot of tests before it is given to the Indian Navy and put into service.
Over 75% of the orders for Project 17A went to Indian companies, such as MSMEs and auxiliary industries. This is in line with the “AatmaNirbhar Bharat” (self-reliant India) goal of the government led by Narendra Modi.
During the event, President Droupadi Murmu talked about the importance of Vindhyagiri and hoped that when INS Vindhyagiri touched the waters of the mighty Hooghly for the first time, it would draw strength from the mountains it was named after and sail with unwavering determination, upholding the values we hold dear.
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