India man-made Hovercraft: The Indian Coast Guard has started building its very first hovercraft made completely in the country. The work began at the shipyard of Chowgule & Company Pvt. Ltd. in Goa. On Wednesday, they held a ceremony where they laid down the first girder and began putting together the new hovercraft. This is part of a deal between the shipyard and the Ministry of Defence that was signed on October 24, 2024. As part of this deal, six such hovercrafts will be made in total, reported DD news.
These hovercrafts are not just random ones, they are being made using proven designs from Griffon Hoverwork, but the twist is, they are now being built using Indian know-how and changes that fit well with India’s coastal security needs. The Indian teams are working on them to make sure they can perform well in shallow waters.
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Self-Reliant Defence
This hovercraft project is part of self-reliant motto in defence. This plan is called Aatmanirbhar Bharat, which means “self-reliant India.” The government wants the country to make more of its own weapons, vehicles, and defence tools, instead of depending on other countries.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh recently spoke about how this effort is already showing big results. He said, “India’s defence production has reached an all-time high of Rs 1.46 lakh crore, with a private sector contribution of over Rs 32,000 crore.” That means Indian companies, especially private ones, are now making a lot of defence equipment and helping the country grow. He also shared that India’s defence exports, which means sending weapons and equipment to other countries, have gone up to Rs 24,000 crore in the year 2024-25.
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He also gave an example of how well Indian defence systems are doing by talking about Operation Sindoor. Indian-made systems were used there successfully, which shows India is now strong enough to make its own powerful tools.
Another important announcement he made was about a big upcoming project. It’s called the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft or AMCA program. What’s different this time is that, for the first time ever, private companies will work together with government companies on such a huge defence project.
