Indian Navy Commissions First Multipurpose Ship ‘INS Samarthak’ Built By A Private Shipyard

Indian Navy commissioned the first of the two multipurpose vessels, INS Samarthak, into the fleet in a ceremony held at the Karwar Naval Base on October 16, 2026.

The vessel, whose name means ‘The Proponent’, boasts over 75% indigenous content and has been built by a private shipyard under the government’s Make in India Initiative. It was designed and built by the private company, Larsen and Toubro, at its Katupalli shipyard in Tamil Nadu.

The multi-purpose ship would support weapons and unmanned systems, conduct surveillance and patrols, and also disaster-relief and humanitarian operations when needed.

It would also serve as a testing platform for new naval tech, especially naval drones. Samarthak can be modified in the future as per operational requirements, strengthening India’s defense ecosystem.

Samarthak features a dynamic positioning system to support the launch and recovery of targets at sea. Chief Guest C.P. Radhakrishnan, the Vice-President of India, said that the vessel’s commissioning is evidence of India’s growing industrial, technological and shipbuilding capacity.

The vessel is meant to tackle non-traditional threats and operate in contested environments. Its crest features the Indian Elephant emerging from waves, a symbol of agility and strength, which is expected to be offered to the Indian Naval Forces after it enters active service.

India’s Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Krishna Swaminathan, said that this is an example of the increasing role of private industry in developing naval ships and other vital defense technologies for the country.

He added that lessons learnt from this project must be used to improve the build quality of future vessels and reduce delivery times by shortening the approval periods by adopting a plan of action that would give an operational edge to the Navy.

Coming to the technical specifications, the ship has a displacement of 3750 tonnes and measures 107 metres lengthwise and 18.6 metres breadthwise. It can accommodate 16 crew members and can sail at 15 knots with a range of 4500 miles. Its weapons include an OTO Melara 76 mm gun, 30 mm automatic cannons, rocket launchers, torpedoes, and a flight deck for a HAL Dhruv helicopter.