What is Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan?
India was importing British origin Navy ships since Nehru era. Subsequently Navy ship manufacturing shifted to Soviet Union (USSR) as India developed special friendship with them. There was a norm that whenever a new Navy ship came to India, it was kept out of bound from Navy officers and sailors for months because foreign players may deploy malware or spyware in Indian Navy ships. Only after comprehensive quality and safety audits, it was handed over to the Indian Navy.
There was another problem with imported Indian Navy ships – cost. Often shipbuilding faces cost overruns due to local factors and Indian govt had to shell out more money. An agreement inked in January 2004 between India and Russia had earmarked only $974 million for aircraft carrier Vkramaditya but final price was $2.33 billion and few years delay in delivery (original delivery date was 2009 but actual delivery was in 2013). During trial run one of its engine failed out of eight, leading to rework and delay. Despite high cost, it came without any protective missiles against incoming missiles and Barak-8 was be deployed for its own protection in future. Vikramaditya is larger carrier (than previous Vikrant-1 and Viraat and both were British origin) and has Mig-29K jets on its deck which much lethal than older smaller Sea Harrier jets used earlier. What is the point of buying and sailing this big carrier which can’t defend itself?
UPA era Defence Minister AK Antony salutes to Russian Sailors during commissioning of INS Vikramaditya in Russia on November 2013
Another problem with foreign dependency for Indian Navy ships means Indian shipyards like Mazagon Docs, Garden Reach Shipbuilders (GRSE), Cochin Shipyard, Hindustan Shipyard (Vizag) and Goa Shipyard didn’t sufficienty get orders and failed to grow. India was buying 70% of its annual defence equipments from Russia in 2014 which indicates high import dependence.
Fast forward to June 2025. Indian Navy’s Russian-manufactured guided missile frigate INS Tamal that carries an array of missiles and surveillance systems will be commissioned into the force at Russia’s coastal city of Kaliningrad on 1July 2025. The ship has 26% indigenous components, including the BrahMos long-range cruise missile for targeting both at sea and land. The 125-metre-long, 3,900-tonne warship, packs a lethal punch as it features an impressive blend of Indian and Russian cutting-edge technologies. INS Tamal would be the 8th Krivak class frigates to be inducted from Russia over the past two decades. INS Tamal is the second ship of the Tushil class, which are the upgraded versions of their predecessors, Talwar and Teg classes.
India is also building two similar frigates called the INS Triput class at Goa Shipyard Ltd with transfer of technology and design assistance from the Russian side. By the conclusion of this series of ships, Indian Navy will be operating 10 ships with similar capabilities and commonality in equipment, weapon and sensor fit over four different classes. More importantly, INS Tamal will be the last imported Indian Navy ship and all subsequent ships will be made by Indian shipyards under the ‘atmanirbhar’ or Make in India scheme.
Future Indian Navy ships will be made in Indian Shipyards only. This is one example of atmanirbhar bharat abhiyan.
P.S. -This post is neither spam nor plagiarised material and follows Quora policy
Picture source: Google / Respective rightful owner
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