Prime Minister Narendra Modi's June 21 commissioning of three domestically designed and constructed naval platforms—INS Dunagiri, INS Sanshodhak, and INS Agray—highlights the Indian Navy's development into what may be the nation's leading "Make in India" armed force.
With the vast majority of its warships being designed and constructed domestically, the navy has emerged as the engine of India's domestic defense manufacturing ecosystem, replacing the country's previous heavy reliance on foreign shipyards and imported technologies.
During his speech, Modi emphasized the importance of sea power for 21st-century national defense. "Without robust maritime capabilities, no country can become a significant power. The oceans have a direct impact on prosperity, security, and development.The prime minister pointed out that future energy supplies, deep-sea resources, and vital minerals will increasingly affect geopolitical competition, making maritime capacity a crucial factor in determining strategic and economic power.
The force's strong institutional architecture has been the driving force behind the navy's reform. End-to-end indigenous capability covering design, construction, weapons integration, and lifecycle support has been established by organizations like the Weapons and Electronics Systems Engineering Establishment (WESEE), Advanced Technology Vessel Project (ATVP), Directorate of Indigenization, Warship Design Bureau (WDB), and Directorate of Ship Production (DSP), which operate under the Controller of Warship Production & Acquisition (CWP&A), as well as specialized naval design directorates. Through their efforts, India has been able to transition from licensing the construction of foreign platforms to creating advanced warships with domestic sensors, armaments, and combat management systems.

The magnitude of this change is reflected in the numbers. Over 130 warships and submarines are in service with the Indian Navy, and another 50 more are being built in Indian shipyards, marking the nation's largest-ever domestic shipbuilding endeavor. With hundreds of MSMEs and thousands of trained people from the defense industrial base, the majority of these platforms—between 75 and over 80 percent—are being produced with indigenous material. By 2030, the navy intends to increase its fleet to about 155–160 warships, and by the mid-2030s, it may reach 175–200 vessels. The majority of this expansion is anticipated to come from local shipyards.

This trip is embodied in the three vessels that Modi commissioned in Kolkata. The Project 17A stealth frigate INS Dunagiri demonstrates India's capacity to construct front-line combatants with cutting-edge radar, missile, and anti-submarine warfare capabilities. While INS Agray showcases expanding capabilities in anti-submarine warfare and coastal security, INS Sanshodhak exhibits domestic expertise in specialized hydrographic and oceanographic platforms. When taken as a whole, they constitute a fleet that is forming an independent marine industrial ecosystem that is essential to India's strategic goals in the Indian Ocean and the larger Indo-Pacific.

The navy's extensive institutional environment is responsible for this consistent production rhythm. In order to lessen reliance on foreign suppliers, specialized organizations like WESEE, ATVP, and the Directorate of Indigenization have been instrumental in the development of domestic combat systems, sensors, weapons integration capabilities, and strategic technologies.
The Directorates of Electrical Engineering (DEE), Marine Engineering (DMEC), and Naval Architecture (DNA) support their work. These organizations make sure that increasingly advanced warships are outfitted with systems that are both Indian-designed and Indian-made. WDB, DSP, Directorate of Staff Requirements, and Warship Overseeing Teams are crucial to the shipbuilding process. Together, these organizations oversee shipyard construction, transform operational requirements into state-of-the-art warship designs, and guarantee the timely delivery of intricate naval platforms.With almost all of the big warships now on order being built in India under the larger concept of Atmanirbhar Bharat, the commissioning of INS Dunagiri, INS Sanshodhak, and INS Agray demonstrates how this ecosystem has changed the Indian Navy from a "buyer" to a "builder" force.
INS Dunagiri: The fifth stealth frigate of the Nilgiri class
An important turning point in the design and building of indigenous warships is INS Dunagiri. On March 30 of this year, the Indian Navy received INS Dunagiri, the fifth ship of the Nilgiri-class (Project 17A) and the second ship in the class constructed by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd (GRSE), Kolkata.The warship is a revival of the former INS Dunagiri, a frigate of the Leander class that was in service with the navy from May 1977 to October 2010. While maintaining the tradition of its predecessor, the new vessel represents a quantum advance in naval architecture, stealth, automation, firepower, and survivability.
Project 17A frigates, designed by the WDB and managed by the Warship Overseeing Team in Kolkata, are a generational improvement on the previous Shivalik-class (Project 17) ships. Constructed using the integrated construction method, the ship was finished and delivered on schedule.

BrahMos supersonic surface-to-surface missiles, MF-STAR multifunction radar, the Medium Range Surface-to-Air Missile (MRSAM) system, a Super Rapid Gun Mount (SRGM), close-in weapon systems, anti-submarine rockets, and torpedoes are all part of the frigate's greatly improved weapon and sensor suite.
The ship has a cutting-edge Integrated Platform Management System (IPMS) and a Combined Diesel or Gas (CODOG) propulsion system with gas turbines and diesel engines powering controllable pitch propellers.

In the past sixteen months, the navy has received five Project 17A frigates, including INS Dunagiri. The building period was shortened to 80 months from 93 months for the lead ship, INS Nilgiri, thanks to lessons acquired from the construction of the first four ships. Approximately 4,000 people were directly and over 10,000 indirectly employed by the project, which involved over 200 MSMEs and had a 75% indigenous content.
Indian Navy head Admiral Krishna Swaminathan highlighted the advancements in domestic warship building, stating that INS Dunagiri is outfitted with the newest combat capabilities and signifies a major improvement in shipbuilding efficiency.

INS Sanshodhak: Expanding India's hydrographic capabilities
The fourth and last Survey Vessel (Large) constructed under a contract in October 2018 is INS Sanshodhak. On March 30, the ship was given to the navy. After INS Sandhayak, INS Nirdeshak, and INS Ikshak, which were put into service in February 2024, December 2024, and November 2025, respectively, comes INS Sanshodhak.
The vessel, which was designed by the WDB and built by GRSE in compliance with the Indian Register of Shipping classification requirements, will be essential to marine domain awareness, hydrographic surveys, and navigation safety. The vessel can map harbor approaches and navigational channels, perform comprehensive coastal and deep-water hydrographic surveys, and gather geophysical and oceanographic data for both military and commercial uses.

INS Sanshodhak, which is 110 meters long and has a displacement of about 3,400 tonnes, is outfitted with cutting-edge hydrographic technologies, such as data acquisition and processing systems, autonomous underwater vehicles, remotely operated vehicles, digital side scan sonars, and long-range differential GPS positioning systems. The ship can reach speeds of more than 18 knots (33 km/h) thanks to its twin diesel engines.
The ship had lengthy harbor and sea trials after its keel was laid in June 2022 and it was launched in June 2023. Sanshodhak, which has more than 80% indigenous content by cost, is an example of how Indian industry, MSMEs, and the navy's design and oversight organizations have worked together to boost India's marine capabilities in the Indian Ocean Region.

INS Agray: Boosting anti-submarine warfare along the coast
INS Agray, the fourth of eight Arnala-class Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft being constructed by GRSE, completes the trio. On March 30, the ship was delivered to the Navy. The ship is designed to improve mine warfare, maritime surveillance in shallow waters, and coastal anti-submarine warfare missions.
Agray and its sister ships are the biggest waterjet-powered Indian naval warships, measuring about 77 meters in length. The platform's modern shallow-water sonar sensors, lightweight torpedoes, and domestic rocket launchers enable for the efficient detection, tracking, and engagement of undersea threats.
Agray continues the illustrious naval legacy of Dunagiri. The ship has the name of the former INS Agray, a 1241 PE class patrol vessel that was decommissioned in 2017.

These three ships' commissioning represents more than just a standard fleet increase. When taken as a whole, they demonstrate India's increasing capacity to develop, construct, and integrate advanced naval systems for a variety of mission profiles, from hydrographic reconnaissance to high-end combat operations and anti-submarine warfare.
The Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft Malwan and the stealth frigate Mahendragiri are anticipated to be put into service in July. These will hasten India's domestic naval development. The introduction of INS Dunagiri, INS Sanshodhak, and INS Agray indicates that the nation's navy modernization is increasingly being driven by local ingenuity and industrial competence as India looks to play a bigger role in the Indo-Pacific and the larger maritime realm.