The first ship of Project 15B, INS Vishakhapatnam will be commissioned by the Indian Navy on Sunday. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will be the chief guest at the naval dockyard in Mumbai.
Announcing the development on Twitter, Rajnath Singh said, "Will be in Mumbai tomorrow, 21st November. Looking forward to attending the commissioning ceremony of INS Visakhapatnam. The event marks the formal induction of the first of the four 'Visakhapatnam' class destroyers, into the Indian Navy".
The commissioning of INS Visakhapatnam will put India along with an elite set of nations, capable of designing and building advanced warships, according to a statement on Saturday.
The destroyer ship is loaded with major indigenous weapons like medium-range surface-to-air missile systems, the surface to surface missiles, torpedo tubes, and launchers, apart from the indigenous equipments in 'float' and 'move' categories.
Captain Birendra Singh, commanding officer (designate) of INS Visakhapatnam said, "We are ready for INS Visakhapatnam's commissioning. Our indigenous content is the highest today. After commissioning, we will continue with a few more trials and will be one with the fleet", as quoted by ANI.
Submarine Vela will also be commissioned by the Navy on November 25 with the chief of naval staff Admiral Karambir Singh present as the chief guest at the ceremony. Vela will be the fourth submarine of Project 75.
"Six Submarines are being constructed under Project-75. With the commissioning of Vela, the project would have crossed the halfway mark," the statement said on Saturday.
It further added that the commissioning of INS Visakhapatnam and submarine Vela will be major milestones that show the capacity to build complex indigenous combat platforms. It said, "This will enhance our capacity and firepower to address the threats both in the above water and underwater domains".
