First indigenous aircraft carrier to be completed by Dec: Govt

New Delhi, Aug 2 (PTI) The construction of the first
indigenous aircraft carrier 'Air Defence Ship' at Cochin in
the south Indian state Kerala is scheduled to be completed by
December after which the 40,000 tonne vessel will be launched,
the Lok Sabha (lower house of Indian parliament) was informed.
"Regarding the ADS being constructed at the Cochin
Shipyard limited (CSL), 75 per cent of hull work has been
completed and is expected to be launched in December 2011,
after which further work will be undertaken prior to its
commissioning," Indian Defence Minister A K Antony said Monday
in reply to a query.
He said Indian-made warship quality steel was now
available in the country, which will reduce the country's
dependence on foreign sources.
"With the infrastructure and experience, indigenous
aircraft carrier-sized ships can be built at CSL. Now
Indian-manufactured warship quality steel is available, which
will reduce dependence on foreign countries," he said.
Outlining India's plans to have an aircraft carrier on
both the seaboards, the minister said, "To maintain effective
presence in our area of interest, IN should be capable of
deploying Carrier Task Forces in two geographically separated
locations."
Commenting on the work on the Admiral Gorshkov project
in Russia, Antony said, "The refit and modernisation works on
board the INS Vikramaditya are progressing in an earnest
manner."
"Consequent to signing of supplementary agreements in
March 2010, the Russian side has increased the manpower and
material resources considerably for the project. A majority of
the equipment and systems have been installed on board the
ship. The delivery of the ship is scheduled in December 2012,"
he said.