According to India’s Economic Times, Admiral P. Murugesan, the vice chief of India’s naval staff, said that the navy aims to have 200 warships operational by 2027, up from just 137 at present.
Currently, the Indian Navy has 48 ships under construction on several shipyards across the nation. At present, the Navy operates 137 combatants with new ships being added at a rate of 4-5 a year.
It is likely that India will purchase more foreign ships in the years ahead in order to reach its target of 200 ships, the Economic Times report suggested.
According to Swedish think tank the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, India was the largest arms importer for the years 2010-2014. During that period, India was the recipient of 15 percent of all international arms transfers, up from just 9 percent in the five years prior.
India’s arms purchases increased 140 percent during this period.
By comparison, India’s domestic arms industry continues to suffer from severe delays in producing new systems, partly due to the excessive bureaucracy in India. Thus, it is safe to assume that if India’s Navy boasts 200 warships by 2027, a large part of its fleet will have been purchased from abroad.
Russia and the United States are India’s top arms suppliers.
