Cabinet Committee on Security clears completion of Indigenous Aircraft Carrier

NEW DELHI: In its first major decision for the armed forces, Narendra Modi government was understood to have today cleared a proposal worth around Rs 19,000 crore to complete the construction of the long-delayed Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC) being built in a shipyard in Kochi.
The proposal is understood to have been cleared at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) headed by Prime Minister Modi.

The IAC is a 40,000-tonne warship being built by the Cochin Shipyard Limited under the Project 71 of the Navy and the funds, understood to have been approved by the government, would be used for its completion.

The government had released Rs 3,500 crore earlier for its construction. The construction plan of the warship is running four to five years behind schedule.

The warship is India's first attempt to make a warship of this magnitude, which has launched it into select club of countries capable of designing and building a carrier of this size and capability.

It is set to go for extensive trials in 2016 before being inducted into the navy by 2018 end, as per its present schedule.

The warship will carry among other things the MiG-29K, Light Combat Aircraft Tejas and Kamov 31 helicopters once it is completed and enters operational service.

The ship, with a length of 260 m and breadth of 60 m, has been designed by the directorate of naval design and is being built at Cochin Shipyard Limited since November 2006.