New Delhi, Aug 6 (IANS): Indian Navy Vice Chief Vice Admiral SN Ghormade virtually laid the keel of the first warship of the Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft (ASW SWC) project and the third warship of Survey Vessel Large (SVL) project on Friday.

The ships are being built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers as part of the indigenous shipbuilding programme for construction of eight ASW SWC and four SVL for the Indian Navy.

The ships are partly being built under a unique Public Private Partnership model by GRSE at Larsen & Toubro shipyard, Kattupalli.

The keel laying is a major milestone activity in the shipbuilding process and indicates the amalgamation of various blocks towards construction of a ship.

Senior officers of the Indian Navy and GRSE were also present during the event.

Speaking on the occasion, Vice Admiral Ghormade appreciated the efforts put in by GRSE and L&T in achieving this milestone despite Covid constraints and resultant lockdowns.

He called it a noteworthy achievement by the Shipyard and commended the professionalism displayed by all.

He highlighted that construction of these vessels is a major boost for Atmanirbhar Bharat (Self Reliant India) and 'Make in India' commitment with most of the weapons, sensors and equipment being indigenous.

He added that the ASW Shallow Water Craft equipped with state-of-the-art underwater sensors and weapons will boost the Navy's ASW capability.

The SVL ships capable of full-scale coastal survey, deep-water hydrographic survey and determination of navigational channels/ routes will be fitted with state of the art equipment.

Highlighting various challenges faced by the Shipyard in executing this complex shipbuilding project, CMD-GRSE stated that despite challenges posed by the ongoing pandemic, production of the ships continued by adopting innovative solutions.