In the last decade, India has witnessed a historic change in the field of maritime security. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, policies like ‘Self-reliant India’ and ‘Make in India’ have made the Indian Navy stronger, indigenous and modern than ever before. Whereas India once had to depend heavily on foreign technology and suppliers for warships, submarines and weapon systems, today the Navy is moving strongly towards self-reliance with 76% indigenous content. This change is not just an expansion of defense capability, but a decisive advance in national security.
In the first phase, the Indian Navy was almost 70% dependent on imports. But the Modi government made policies giving strategic priority to defense production, increased investment and promoted indigenous production at the policy level. The result was that today India has the capability to design and manufacture aircraft carriers, destroyers, frigates and even submarines in its own country. The target is 90–95% indigenization by 2030, which seems to be coming true rapidly.
Increasing self-reliance in shipbuilding has also given new energy to the country’s economy. Navy’s indigenous projects have created more than 1.85 lakh direct and 4.20 lakh indirect jobs. The special thing is that 70% of these job opportunities have been created in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities, which has given a new opportunity to technological and industrial development in small cities. Today, more than 12,000 MSMEs are connected to the Navy’s supply chain network, and the potential market of this sector is estimated to be more than ₹60,000 crore by 2027. The contribution of India’s naval shipbuilding economy to GDP in 2023 is ₹47,500 crore, growing at a rapid growth rate of 17.5%.
India’s journey to self-reliance evolved slowly but steadily over three decades. There was excessive import dependence in the 1990s. Between 2000–2010, India started work on the design of indigenous warships for the first time. During 2010–2020, projects like INS Vikrant gave a new identity to indigenous manufacturing. And by 2023, India has achieved 76% indigenization. The policies of the Modi government—Buy Indian-IDDM, Make I/II/III, iDEX, Technology Development Fund—gave unprecedented momentum to this transformation.
Today India is an emerging shipbuilding power at the global level. India has made its place in the category of countries like America, China, Russia, South Korea and Japan. India aims to achieve annual naval exports of ₹12,000 crore by 2030, and 22 friendly countries have also been identified for this. India’s production capacity, affordable costs and reliability make it possible to compete at the international level.
India’s indigenous shipbuilding ecosystem stands on a strong foundation today. Mazagon Dock, Cochin Shipyard, Garden Reach Shipbuilders, Naval Dockyards, as well as Warship Design Bureau, DRDO, NSTL and IITs together are providing the country with complete indigenous capabilities from design to construction, testing to maintenance. India has developed world-class capabilities in design engineering, hull construction, steel grades, electronics, radar, sonar, communications, and life-cycle support.
India’s achievements are a matter of pride. An aircraft carrier like INS Vikrant, which has 76% indigenous content, weighs 45,000 tonnes and is a symbol of India’s maritime power. Visakhapatnam-class destroyers under Project 15B are counted among the world’s most stealthy and lethal platforms with 75% indigenous content. The Kalvari-class submarines of Project 75 exemplify India’s development of advanced sonar and communication systems. The Nilgiri-class frigates of Project 17A showcase India’s capability in modular construction. At the same time, with 90% indigenous content, the next-generation ASW Corvettes take India’s manufacturing prowess to a new level.
Indigenous technologies are also the main strength of this journey. BrahMos missile has today become India’s most prestigious defense export product with 76% indigenous content. BEL’s CMS (Combat Management System) with 92% indigenous software is being installed on almost all the big ships of the Navy. DRDO’s HUMSA-NG sonar system has export potential and has become the eyes and ears of Indian submarines and warships. Indian steel—DMR 249A/B—now forms the basis of every warship.
The future direction is even more ambitious. India plans to achieve 100% indigenous gas turbines, special alloys, AI and automated warfare systems, digital shipbuilding, and world-class capabilities in unmanned maritime platforms by 2030. A target has also been set to increase production efficiency by 30% and reduce construction time.
However challenges also exist. Some critical technologies, such as gas turbines and high-end submarine systems, are still not fully indigenous. Production efficiency is below the global average and there is a need for diversity and standardization in the supply chain. But the opportunities are bigger—digitalization, green technologies, export markets and public-private collaboration can further propel India’s momentum forward.
The Navy took a historic step towards ‘Aatmanirbhar Navy Vision 2047’ by commissioning its 100th and 101st indigenous warships—INS Udaygiri and INS Himgiri—in August 2025. Indian shipyards have delivered more than 40 indigenous warships and submarines to the Navy since 2014, and a new indigenous ship has been commissioned into the Navy almost every 40 days over the past year. In the last ten years, 67% of the Navy’s capital purchases have come from Indian industries, which is the biggest success of the policy of self-reliant India. During the same period, the Navy’s budget also increased from ₹49,623 crore (2020–21) to ₹1,03,548 crore (2025–26), increasing the Navy’s share in the defense budget from 15% to 21%.
Modernization of Indian shipyards, strong partnerships with IITs and research institutes, and advanced R&D have enabled the Navy to build complex ships and develop state-of-the-art weapon systems. The biggest example of this is INS Vikrant, which has 76% indigenous content and more than 100 MSMEs along with Indian companies like BEL, BHEL, GRSE, Keltron, Kirloskar, L&T and Wartsila India played an important role. Navy, DRDO and SAIL together developed warship-grade steel, due to which now the steel required for naval ships is being made entirely in India. This is evidence of the maturing of a strong naval–industrial–academic ecosystem.
Today, the Indian Navy’s surface warship capability is more indigenous than ever before. There are currently 51 large ships under construction in the country worth more than ₹90,000 crore, which is an indication of India’s rapidly growing shipbuilding capacity. Naval modernization has progressed rapidly in the last decade and a half—from aircraft carriers to destroyers, multi-mission frigates and advanced survey ships, all major platforms are now being indigenous.
Today the Navy is taking indigenous technology and innovation to new heights. The 67% contracts awarded to Indian industries in the last decade have not only reduced import dependence but also created a defense ecosystem with huge opportunities for MSMEs, startups and private companies. The Navy is currently working on 194 indigenization and innovation projects, which can make India a global hub of maritime technology in the future.
Ultimately, with all these achievements, the Indian Navy is now not just a “user navy” but a “builder’s navy”—one that designs, builds, tests and also develops technology for the future. This is a recognition of India’s true maritime self-reliance.
The story of shipbuilding self-reliance of the Indian Navy under the leadership of PM Modi is not just the success of the defense sector, but also the story of the revival of India’s strategic, economic and technological powers. Moving from 70% import dependence to 76% indigenization, and targeting 95% by 2030—this is the new face of a rapidly growing India. The Indian Navy has now become a symbol of self-reliance which not only strengthens the country’s security but also strengthens India’s rise on the global stage.
