Commissioning of INS Khanderi, the second Indian SCORPENE-class submarine entirely made in India
On 28 September 2019, INS Khanderi, the second of P75 SCORPENE®-class submarine, was commissioned by the hands of Honorable Defence Minister Shri Rajnath Singh in presence of Chief Minister of Maharasthra Shri Devendra Fadnavis, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Karambir Singh, CMD MDL Commodore Rakesh Anand (IN Retd.) and several other dignitaries. INS Khanderi is totally built by Indian shipyard Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) through years of technology transfer and partnership with Naval Group.
After a series of remarkable events such as the commissioning of INS Kalvari in December 2017, launching of the Karanj (the third submarine) in January 2018, launching of the Vela submarine (the fourth submarine) in May 2019, the Khanderi’s commissioning took place on 28th September 2019.
This event highlights the success of indigenous submarines construction programme of the Government of India. These submarines have been completely built by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) through technology transfer and partnership with Naval Group, in line with Indian Government’s “Make in India” policy. This series of six submarines have been fitted with a number of equipment, built in India by qualified and highly trained specialists from industrial MSMEs which form the sound base of submarine building ecosystem of India.
“The rise in competencies that MDL completed is very inspiring. It is the first time in history that such a large scale technology transfer has taken place for the making of one of the most complex products found in the world. The commissioning of the second Scorpene-class submarine constitute a new milestone for this unique and one of a kind industrial program. The additional unit of this stealthy submarine will further contribute to the self-reliance of the Indian Navy.”, highlighted Olivier de la Bourdonnaye, Senior Executive Program Director at Naval Group.
Despite the complexity of submarine building requiring millions of man/hours, the successful transfer of technology has made it possible to reach a very high indigenous content. By building upon and nurturing these know-how and skills in India, Naval Group is committed to significantly enhance the level of indigenisation in future projects of the Indian Navy supported by the Indian Government.
Photo courtesy Naval Group
