Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Commissions ASW Stealth Corvette INS Kiltan
INS Kiltan (P30), third Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) stealth corvettes built under Project 28 (Kamorta Class) was commissioned into the Indian Navy by defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman at an impressive ceremony held at Naval Dockyard, Visakhapatnam on October 16. Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Sunil Lanba, Vice Admiral HCS Bisht, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command, CMD, Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Limited (GRSE) Rear Admiral VK Saxena (retd), Commodore MB Kunte (retd) first Commanding Officer of erstwhile Kiltan and a host of other dignitaries were also present during the commissioning ceremony. The event marked the formal commissioning into the navy of the third of the four ASW Corvettes, indigenously designed by the Indian Navy’s in-house organisation, Directorate of Naval Design and constructed by GRSE Limited, Kolkata.
On arrival at the Naval Jetty, defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman was received by CNS Admiral Sunil Lanba. The minister was presented with a Guard of Honour and was introduced to the dignitaries’ present prior commencement of commissioning ceremony.
Welcoming the gathering, Admiral Sunil Lanba stated that this commissioning marks yet another milestone in our journey of indigenous warship building. The Indian Navy is deeply committed to the principle of indigenisation and the government’s thrust on ‘Make in India’. Commissioning of four ships in the last year, all built in Indian shipyards, is a testimony of our resolve. Our commitment to indigenisation also assumes special significance as we have steadily broadened our indigenisation efforts beyond ship building. We have achieved considerable success with indigenous sonars such as Abhay and HUMSA-NG as well as weapons such as Varunastra and BrahMos. These achievements are a result of the Indian Navy’s proactive and integrated approach to achieve self-reliance, said the Admiral.
During her address post commissioning of INS Kiltan, Sitharaman congratulated the Indian Navy, M/s. GRSE, other Indian PSUs and a host of small and medium scale industries, which have contributed towards building this fine ship. She emphasised that the navy’s relentless pursuit of self-reliance through indigenisation is highly appreciable and this has helped the Indian Navy to seamlessly transform from a Buyer’s to a Builder’s Navy. She highlighted that the addition of INS Kiltan to the naval fleet is a reaffirmation of this transformation. She later unveiled the Commissioning Plaque and dedicated the ship to the nation.