INS Varsha

Coordinates: 14°45′51.20″N 74°7′42.36″E / 14.7642222°N 74.1284333°E / 14.7642222; 74.1284333

INS Varsha
Rambilli, Andhra Pradesh
Type Naval station
Site information
Controlled by Indian Navy
Garrison information
Occupants Eastern Naval Command

INS Varsha is a new naval base being developed under Project Varsha for the Indian Navy. This base will be the home of the navy's new fleet of nuclear submarines and ships. It was planned to be located within a radius of approximately 200 kilometres (124.27 statute miles) from Visakhapatnam, the headquarters of the navy's Eastern Naval Command.[1] Previous news reports suggested that Gangavaram had been the initial site for the new base.[2] The base is now being developed at Rambilli, which is 50 km from Visakhapatnam.[3][4]

Construction

INS Varsha would de-congest the Visakhapatnam Port, which is used by both the navy and the civilian Ministry of Shipping. The navy's dockyards at Vizag are facing shortage of berthing space due to the rapid expansion of the Eastern fleet, which grew from 15 major warships in 2006 to 46 in 2012, and is still expanding. Varsha will have a large near-by facility of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), and will include modern nuclear engineering support facilities and extensive crew accommodation. It is designed to support the fleet of 8-12 nuclear-powered ballistic missile and attack submarines to be built for the Indian Navy. It will also have underground pens to hide the submarines from spy satellites and protect them from enemy air attacks. The navy is seeking foreign technical assistance pertaining to nuclear safety features for the base.[5] While designed principally as a nuclear submarine support facility, the new base can accommodate other naval vessels because of the Indian Navy's expansion. This facility has been compared to the top-secret Hainan nuclear submarine base for the Chinese PLA Navy. This east coast base expansion programme by the Indian Navy was started due to India's Look East policy and the Chinese naval expansion into the region.[1][3][6]

In addition to Project Varsha, in late 2009, the Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL), located at Visakhapatnam, was transferred from the Ministry of Shipping to the Ministry of Defence in order to support the Arihant-class nuclear submarine construction programme. These new vessels will be based at INS Varsha.[1][7]

₹160 crore (US$24 million) were sanctioned for the project in the 2011-12 budget, of which ₹58 crore (US$9 million) were for civil works and the balance ₹100 crore (US$15 million) were for setting up a VLF communication system.[8]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Suman Sharma (12 June 2010). "Navy creating a new base for nuke submarines". India. (Daily News & Analysis. Retrieved 11 June 2010.
  2. ↑ Sudha Ramachandran (17 October 2006). "India navy drops another anchor". Asia Times. Retrieved 20 April 2009.
  3. 1 2 "India readies hi-tech naval base to keep eye on China". The Times of India. 26 March 2013. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
  4. ↑ "Navy to have second base near Vizag". The Hindu. 17 September 2006. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
  5. ↑ "India's Secret warship base commissioned to protect assets in South China Sea". Strat risks. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
  6. ↑ Vivek Raghuvanshi (8 December 2010). "Eying China, India Plans New East Coast Navy Bases". Home. DefenseNews. Retrieved 16 December 2010.
  7. ↑ "On national security interests, Govt moves Hindustan Shipyard to Defence ministry". The Times of India. 24 December 2009. Retrieved 11 June 2010.
  8. ↑ "How India's pride INS Arihant was built". Business Standard. 12 August 2013. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
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