The official handover of the vessel took place on Thursday, according to the Times of India newspaper.
The vessel, which will serve as a floating airfield for 30 fighter jets and helicopters, will be fully commissioned by the Indian air force in late August. The ship will be named INS Vikrant after India's first aircraft carrier acquired from the United Kingdom in 1961, which was actively deployed in the combat operations during the Third Indo-Pakistani War in 1971, and served in the Indian navy until 1997, the newspaper said.
Construction of the ship equipped with gas-turbine engines started in early 2000 and continued until 2020. Throughout 2021, the aircraft carrier had been undergoing sea trials in the Indian navy.
The vessel will carry Russian MIG-29K and KA-31 helicopters, as well as American MH-60R helicopters. Trials of the ship's deck aviation to practice takeoffs, landings and sea-based operations will commence in coming months, making the aircraft carrier fully operational only by mid-2023, the newspaper added.
In August 2022, the Indian navy is expecting to obtain and put into service the second out of four nuclear-powered Arihant-type strategic missile carriers also produced in India under the government's domestic defense production strategy.