India-built biggest warship INS Kochi commissioned

Mumbai, Sep 30: India's biggest, indigenously built warship INS Kochi was commissioned ibto the Indian Navy by Defence Minister Manohar Parikkar on Wednesday morning here.

Commissioning it, Parikkar described the 7,500-tonnes vessel, capable of speeds of 30 knots, to be "as good as any foreign ship".

INS Kochi has been built as the second of the three Kolkata Class (Project 15A) Guided Missile Destroyers at the Mazagaon Docks Ltd. (MDL) in Mumbai at a cost of Rs.4,000 crore, and joins the Indian Navy fleet as its 10th destroyer.

The first of the Kolkata Class destroyers, INS Kolkata was commissioned in August 2014, while the third and final INS Chennai is due for induction by end-2016.

These will be followed by a mega-project of nearly Rs.30,000 crore to construct four more stealth destroyers at the Mazgaon Docks.

IANS