Examine the role of Public Sector Undertakings such as Cochin Shipyard Limited in achieving self-reliance in defence production.

Defence PSU shipyards are the structural backbone of India's naval self-reliance: since 2014 Indian yards have delivered over 40 indigenous warships and submarines, with a new vessel inducted on average every 40 days in the past year [3]. Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) illustrates both the strength and the unfinished agenda of this model.

Building indigenous capability

• Absorbing large, complex orders: MoD's ₹19,600 crore contract for 11 NGOPVs and six Next Generation Missile Vessels (NGMVs) went entirely to Indian yards, CSL among them [1].
• Mastering the full construction cycle: CSL took the first NGMV from steel cutting (2024) to keel laying, with induction planned from 2027 [2][4] — the same yard that delivered INS Vikrant.
• Design and systems depth: naval programmes now record indigenous content above 75%, aided by the Indian Naval Indigenisation Plan (INIP) 2015-2030 [3].

Anchoring the wider ecosystem

• PSU order books sustain a tiered supplier base of MSMEs supplying sub-systems, electronics and structural components [3].
• Around 51 large ships worth ~₹90,000 crore are under construction domestically, creating durable employment and skills in coastal states [3].
• Long-term government demand de-risks private investment that market signals alone would not justify.

Persisting constraints

• Capacity concentration: Mazagon Dock, GRSE and CSL carry almost all frontline work [3]; CSL runs NGMV and NGOPV lines simultaneously [4], so berths and skilled teams are shared and schedules interact.
• Residual dependence: indigenous content is measured by value, so hulls and fittings inflate the figure while gas turbines, radar and missile seekers often remain imported.
• First-of-class timelines are inherently long, making phased delivery slippage a real risk.

PSUs have converted India from an importer of platforms into a builder of them, but self-reliance must now shift from tonnage to technology. Deepening private-sector participation under DAP 2020, and measuring indigenisation item-wise rather than by value alone, would align shipbuilding with the Navy's Aatmanirbhar Vision 2047 [3].