Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Karnataka and Kerala on 1-2 September to commission the first indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant at Cochin Shipyard Limited in Kochi and will inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of projects worth around Rs 3,800 crores in Mangaluru.
At 6 pm on September 1, Prime Minister will visit Sri Adi Shankara Janma Bhoomi Kshetram, the holy birthplace of Adi Shankaracharya, at Kalady village near Cochin Airport. At 9.30 am on September 2, Prime Minister will commission the first indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant at Cochin Shipyard Limited in Kochi. Thereafter at 1.30 pm, Prime Minister will inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of projects worth around Rs 3,800 crores in Mangaluru, informed the PMO on Tuesday.
Prime Minister has been a strong proponent of Aatmanirbharta, especially in strategic sectors. In what will mark a significant step towards self-reliance in the defence sector, Prime Minister will commission the first indigenously designed and built aircraft carrier INS Vikrant.
Designed by the Indian Navy’s in-house Warship Design Bureau (WDB) and built by Cochin Shipyard Limited, a Public Sector Shipyard under the Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways, Vikrant has been built with state-of-the-art automation features and is the largest ship ever built in the maritime history of India.
The Indigenous Aircraft Carrier is named after her illustrious predecessor, India’s first Aircraft Carrier which had played a vital role in the 1971 war. It has a large number of indigenous equipment and machinery, involving major industrial houses in the country as well as over 100 MSMEs. With the commissioning of Vikrant, India will have two operational Aircraft Carriers, which will bolster the maritime security of the nation.
During the event, the Prime Minister will also unveil the new Naval Ensign (Nishaan), doing away with the colonial past and befitting the rich Indian maritime heritage.
Prime Minister will inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of mechanization and industrialisation projects worth around Rs 3,800 crores in Mangaluru.
Prime Minister will inaugurate the project worth over Rs 280 crore for mechanisation of Berth No. 14 for handling containers and other cargo, undertaken by the New Mangalore Port Authority. The mechanized terminal will increase efficiency and reduce the turnaround time, pre-berthing delay and dwell time in the Port by around 35 per cent, thus giving a boost to the business environment. Phase I of the project has been successfully completed, adding over 4.2 MTPA to the handling capacity, which would further increase to over 6 MTPA by 2025.