President draupadi murmu on thursday launched the state-of-the-art stealth warship INS Vindhyagiri at Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Limited (GRSE) on the Hooghly River in Kolkata. It is also noteworthy that West bengal Chief minister Mamata Banerjee, governor SCV Ananda Bose, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral R hari Kumar and other senior officials also attended the launching ceremony. INS Vindhyagiri is the sixth stealth warship built under GRSE's Project 17A. After this induction event, INS Vindhyagiri will join her two fellow ships at the outfitting jetty at GRSE, where further steps will be taken on their delivery and commissioning after progress in remaining operations and equipment trials.
Project 17A frigates are the follow-on class of Project 17 (Shivalik class) frigates, developed with enhanced stealth features, advanced weapons & sensors and platform management systems. According to Defense Ministry officials, the launch of INS Vindhyagiri will increase India's defense industrial base, as well as reduce India's dependence on foreign suppliers. And this new warship is designed to boost India's self-reliance and build a strong defense industrial base.
This is the third and last Stealth warship that the Kolkata-based shipbuilder has been contracted to build for the indian Navy under the scheme. During the launch event, President draupadi murmu emphasized the importance of Vindhyagiri and said that as INS Vindhyagiri touches the waters of the mighty Hooghly for the first time, it derives its strength from the eponymous mountains.
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