New Delhi, Nov 28 (PTI) The government is set to positively consider the Indian Navy’s proposal for construction of a second aircraft carrier at a cost of around Rs 40,000 crore, in a major move that comes against the backdrop of rising concerns over China’s increasing forays into the Indian Ocean region.<\/p>\n
Top government sources told PTI that the Defence Procurement Board (DPB), a key body of the defence ministry, has accorded in-principle approval to the ambitious proposal signalling the government’s readiness to go for the second indigenous aircraft carrier, to be known as IAC II.<\/p>\n
The mega procurement proposal will shortly be placed before the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), the defence ministry’s top body on procurement, they said.<\/p>\n
The DAC, headed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, is likely to meet on Thursday and it is learnt that the proposal for the IAC-II will be examined by it.<\/p>\n
The DAC is also likely to consider the Indian Air Force’s proposal for procurement of an additional batch of 97 Tejas Mark-1A aircraft at a cost of Rs 1.15 lakh crore, the sources said.<\/p>\n
The Navy has been making a strong push for having the IAC-II with a displacement of 45,000 tonnes which is estimated to cost close to Rs 40,000 crore with the envisaged specifications.<\/p>\n
India’s first indigenously-built aircraft carrier INS Vikrant (IAC I) was commissioned in September by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.<\/p>\n
Built at a cost of around Rs 23,000 crore, INS Vikrant has a sophisticated air defence network and anti-ship missile systems.<\/p>\n
It has the capacity to hold 30 fighter jets and helicopters. At the commissioning ceremony of the vessel, Modi called it a “floating city” and that it is a reflection of India becoming self-reliant in defence.<\/p>\n
The sources said the IAC II will be kind of a repeat order of the IAC I.<\/p>\n
According to the plan, the IAC II will be built by state-run Cochin Shipyard.<\/p>\n
The Navy has been pitching for three aircraft carriers to deal with China’s growing naval prowess and its growing influence over the Indian Ocean region.<\/p>\n
At present, India has two aircraft carriers — INS Vikramaditya and INS Vikrant.<\/p>\n
INS Vikramaditya is a Russian origin platform.<\/p>\n
The INS Vikrant has over 2,300 compartments, designed for a crew of around 1700 people, including specialised cabins to accommodate women officers.<\/p>\n
Vikrant has a top speed of around 28 knots and a cruising speed of 18 knots with an endurance of about 7,500 nautical miles.<\/p>\n
The IAC is 262 metres long, 62 metres wide and has a height of 59 metres.<\/p>\n
On the procurement of additional 97 Tejas Mark 1A aircraft, the sources said the DAC is set to clear it.<\/p>\n
With the additional fleet, the number of indigenously-developed Tejas aircraft being procured by the IAF would go up to 180.<\/p>\n
In February 2021, the defence ministry sealed a Rs 48,000 crore deal with state-run aerospace major Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd for procurement of 83 Tejas MK-1A jets for the IAF. PTI<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
New Delhi, Nov 28 (PTI) The government is set to positively consider the Indian Navy’s proposal for construction of a second aircraft carrier at a cost of around Rs 40,000 crore, in a major move that comes against the backdrop of rising concerns over China’s increasing forays into the Indian Ocean region. Top government sources […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-229507","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-national"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=229507"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229507\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=229507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=229507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=229507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}