India will be commissioning a new indigenously built vessel or submarine roughly every 25 days across 2025 & 2026, as the fleet moves toward a target of 200 modern ships by 2035.
2 days ago, on 15th October, 2026, India’s first private-built warship INS Samarthak was commissioned into the Navy. Built by Larsen and Toubro, the vessel is a a drone mothership and weapons testbed and will support maritime surveillance, weapons trials, unmanned systems operations and humanitarian missions.
What will INS Samarthak do:
→ Weapons and sensor trials Testing and evaluating indigenous weapons, sensors and other systems under development.
→ Maritime surveillance and patrol: Supporting monitoring and security operations at sea.
→ Low Intensity Maritime Operations (LIMO): Undertaking operations in lower-intensity maritime security environments.
→ Target deployment and trials: Deploying and recovering targets used in naval exercises and weapons trials.
Earlier, in June 2026, PM Modi commissions three indigenously designed and built naval ships – INS Dunagiri, INS Sanshodhak and INS Agray at the Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port, Kolkata, West Bengal. INS Dunagiri is a stealth frigate. INS Agray is aAnti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft (ASW SWC). INS Sanshodhak is a Survey & Surveillance Vessel (Large).
Left to right – INS Dunagiri, INS Agray, INS Sanshodhak
Over 45 major naval vessels and submarines are currently under construction across domestic public and private shipyards.
In 2014, India still imported most of its major warships from abroad. Now, in 2026, it is set to commission a record 18 warships in a single year, and has already taken delivery of the last warship it will ever import.
And almost no one is talking about it.
A navy built at home
→ India is commissioning a record 18 warships in 2026, after 12 in the previous year.
→ Around 45 major naval platforms are under construction in Indian shipyards.
→ New frigates and submarines now carry 75 to 80% indigenous content.
→ INS Tamal, delivered in 2025, is the last major warship India will import.
India stopped buying its warships and started building them.
In an elite club
→ India is the only non-P5 nation that can build both aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines.
→ INS Vikrant, its first home-built carrier, anchors one of two carrier battle groups.
→ Warships are designed in-house by the Navy’s own Warship Design Bureau.
→ Mazagon Dock Shipyards, Garden Reach Shipbuilders, and Cochin Shipbuilders now deliver frontline platforms.
→ L&T has now joined the party.
Only a handful of nations on earth can build what India now builds itself.
How this became possible
→ The Mandate: “Make in India” set hard indigenous targets.
→ The Hard Yards: Years of investment turned public shipyards into serious builders.
→ The Design: The Navy built its own design bureau instead of buying blueprints.
→ The Talent: Educating domestic talent and bringing back Indian shipbuilding talent from around the world.
→ The Push: China’s rapidly growing navy made self-reliance a strategic must.
India decided it could no longer afford to import its own defence.
But here’s the catch
→ India’s fleet of around 130 ships is still dwarfed by China’s near-400.
→ India still has a lot to do in the average-tonnage-per-ship benchmark.
→ Key systems like some engines and sensors are still imported or built under licence.
→ Building fast is one thing; building faster than needed is another.
India can now build its own navy. The race is whether it can build it fast enough.
15 years ago, India’s biggest warships were bought, not built.
Today its yards launch frigates, carriers, and submarines of their own design.
The goal is a 200-ship navy, almost entirely made in India, by 2035.
The country that once imported its fleet now builds it with its own hands.
Read more at:
→ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_of_the_Indian_Navy
→ https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/indian-navy-inducts-multi-purpose-ins-samarthak-a-drone-mothership-and-weapons-testbed-the-first-major-warship-built-by-a-private-shipyard/articleshow/134987278.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst
→ https://www.asianmilitaryreview.com/2026/06/indian-navy-simultaneously-commissions-three-new-naval-vessels-foc