PM Modi commissions INS Vikrant

Kochi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi commissioned India's first indigenously designed and built aircraft carrier INS Vikrant here on Friday, that put India into a select league of countries with domestic capability to build such large war ships.

The Prime Minister commissioned the carrier, built at a cost of Rs 20,000 crore, at a function organised at the Cochin Shipyard Limited here.

With the commissioning of Vikrant, India joined a select group of nations having the niche capability to indigenously design and build an aircraft carrier.

The commissioning ceremony was attended by a host of dignitaries including Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Kerala Governor Arif Mohamad Khan, state Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Ernakulam MP Hibi Eden, Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar and top officials of Navy and Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL).

Modi unveiled a plaque to mark the induction of INS Vikrant, named after its predecessor that played a crucial role in the 1971 Indo-Pak war, into the Navy.

PM @narendramodi receives the Guard of Honor with the tune of #INSVikrant being played by the Indian Naval band as he arrives for the Commissioning ceremony of the first indigenous aircraft carrier

He also inspects the Guard of Honor consisting of 100 naval warriors pic.twitter.com/Wr4GYrhTGQ

— Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (@MIB_India) September 2, 2022

The carrier is equipped with state-of-the-art features.