Chennai. Larsen & Toubro-built 51st defence vessel ICGS Varaha was commissioned into the service of Indian Coast Guard at the hands of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in Chennai on September 25.
Demonstrating the unique track record once again and reemphasizing commitment to Make in India and to maritime security, ICGS Varaha, the fourth of the series of seven Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs), is indigenously designed and built by L&T.
Alike the earlier three OPVs, ICGS Vikram (April 2018), ICGS Vijaya (August 2018) and ICGS Veera (February 2019), the fourth OPV ICGS Varaha (launched in Nov 2018) was also delivered ahead of schedule, within 17 months of delivering and commissioning of the lead OPV to yet again evidencing the Yard’s proven capability to concurrently build multiple warships.
The fifth OPV named ICGS Varad, recently launched at the hands of Gargi Kaul, Secretary (Defence Finance) in August 2019 is getting finishing touches to ready for sea trials over coming weeks.
L&T was mandated by Ministry of Defence for design and construction of seven OPVs in 2014. L&T became the first company in India’s private sector to deliver an in-house designed & built OPV to the Indian Coast Guard.
The first OPV, ICGS Vikram had taken just 25 months from keel laying to completion – the shortest for any OPV in India, and in line with global benchmarks. Excellence in Design, Engineering & Modular Construction, coupled with meticulous planning and Industry 4.0 practices led to delivery of all vessels ahead of schedule.
The OPV is approx. 97m long, 15m wide, has 3.6m draught, 2140 T displacement and has a range of 5000 NM. She can attain maximum speed of up to 26 knots. The entire design and construction process has been certified by American Bureau of Shipping and Indian Registrar of Shipping and overseen by the Indian Coast Guard’s resident team at Kattupalli.
L&T’s globally benchmarked and modern greenfield shipyard at Kattupalli, spread over sprawling 900-acre complex, is capable of undertaking simultaneous construction and refits of multiple ships and submarines under covered workshops.
With our unique capability of design and engineering in-house, L&T has so far delivered Forty-Six Interceptor Boats and Four Offshore Patrol Vessels to the Indian Coast Guard and one mega sized Floating Dock to the Indian Navy.
Commenting on the launch, SN Subrahmanyan, CEO & Managing Director, Larsen & Toubro, said: “Commissioning of ICGS Varaha at the hands of Defence Minister speaks volumes about the importance accorded by the Government to the coastal security of our Nation. L&T is proud to have designed and constructed 35 per cent of the ships in service of Indian Coast Guard Fleet.
On this historic occasion of inducting a L&T-built vessel for the Coast Guard into operational service, we reaffirm our commitment to deliver cutting-edge defence technology to our armed forces indigenously, innovatively and ahead of schedule.”
JD Patil, Senior Executive Vice President & Whole-time Director (Defence), Larsen & Toubro said: “ICGS Varaha is the 51st vessel designed and built by L&T under the Warship License granted by the government in the year 2002, renewed and later converted into perpetuity. L&T has been delivering the defence platforms consistently ahead of schedule under MoD contracts awarded till date. ICGS Varaha is yet another example of the extraordinary results of L&T’s efforts to uphold the Make in India and Design in India initiatives of the Government.
We are uniquely positioned to offer a range of critical defence technologies with single point responsibility from design to platform specific equipment and systems to life-cycle support in the true spirit of ‘Make in India’. With major defence acquisition programmes already on the anvil, we are poised and look forward to enhance L&T’s contribution to the national defence significantly.”
“Early deliveries of all four OPVs and other defence vessels is a testimony to L&T’s world class shipbuilding capabilities. L&T is the only Indian shipyard that has effectively implemented many of the Industry 4.0 practices encompassing complete ship design and construction processes.
These practices assure quality, speed, safety and modularity in warship construction leading to early delivery of defence vessels into service. We have also built a rich pool of human resources that is at par with the global best in critical shipbuilding technologies”, said Vice Admiral B. Kannan (Retd.), MD & CEO, L&T Shipbuilding.
L&T is also richly contributing to the upkeep of Indian Naval and Coast Guard fleets by routinely undertaking their repairs/refits and upgrades including emergency repairs and inspection with exemplary delivery performance by exploiting the Largest in India – 21,500-ton class Ship Lift at the Yard.
With the focus of Govt of India on Defence Exports, L&T is currently engaged in building High-Speed Patrol Vessels for exporting to a friendly nation in South-East Asia region as per our country’s “Look East – Act East“ policy and to empower the recipient nation to construct latter platforms indigenously.
Larsen & Toubro is an Indian multinational engaged in technology, engineering, construction, manufacturing and financial services with over USD 21 billion in revenue. It operates in over 30 countries worldwide. A strong, customer–focused approach and the constant quest for top-class quality have enabled L&T to attain and sustain leadership in its major lines of business for eight decades.
