PM Modi Celebrates Diwali with Naval Personnel Aboard INS Vikrant

Prime Minister Narendra Modi celebrated Diwali on October 20 aboard INS Vikrant, India’s first indigenously built aircraft carrier, spending the festival with Indian Navy personnel off the Goa coast.

Symbol of India’s Naval Self-Reliance

• INS Vikrant, commissioned in 2022, represents India’s entry into an elite group of nations capable of designing and constructing their own aircraft carriers.
• The carrier was built by Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL), underscoring the country’s growing defence manufacturing and industrial capabilities.

Legacy and Meaning

• Named after the legendary INS Vikrant that played a decisive role in the 1971 Indo-Pak War, leading to the liberation of Bangladesh.
• The name ‘Vikrant’ translates to “courageous” or “victorious.”

Design and Capabilities

• Length: 262 metres
• Width: 62 metres — about the size of two football fields placed end-to-end.
• Height: 18 floors tall.
• Described by the Navy as a “city on the move.”
• Houses 2,400 compartments, a 16-bed hospital, and a crew of nearly 1,600.
• Carries 250 tankers of fuel.
• Can host up to 30 aircraft, including MiG-29K fighter jets and multiple types of helicopters.

Source: HT