A Builder's Navy: The Long Road to Self-sufficiency in Warship Design

India’s maritime rise did not begin with a slogan. It began quietly. Without fanfare, without exceptional funding, and largely outside public attention, the Indian Navy moved from dependence on imported warships to designing and building all its major ships in India. Long before Atma Nirbhar became a national imperative, naval designers were practising it—from the 1960s onward—working in the shadows, far from the glare of publicity.

A Builder’s Navyis an insider’s account of this remarkable transformation. Written by one of the pioneers of India’s naval design fraternity, the book traces the decisive milestones of that journey: licensed construction of British frigates; the first indigenous Missile frigate, the leap to gas-turbine destroyers and ultimately, the design of India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier; It is the story of how India became—not merely a navy that sails, but a navy that builds. The Indian Navy’s Warship Design Bureau did not grow through dramatic leaps or headline-grabbing gambles.

It evolved steadily and organically through: careful nurturing of talent, constant experimentation, calibrated risk-taking, and a conscious avoidance of all-or-nothing “leapfrog” approaches. Capability was accumulated patiently, ship class by ship class, each building upon the lessons of the last. Today, Indian naval designs stand comparison with the best in the world. Measured, candid, and enlivened by occasional understated humour, this book will interest serving officers, military historians, students of management, and thoughtful general readers alike.

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Captain N. S. Mohan Ram graduated in Naval Architecture from the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur and joined the Indian Navy. He pursued postgraduate studies in warship design at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich and later completed an MBA from the University of Delhi. He served in the Indian Navy as a Naval Constructor during a formative phase of India’s indigenous warship design programme.

His work included major modifications to the Indian Leander-class frigates — notably the integration of full air-conditioning and helicopter changes — as well as the design of Seaward Defence Boats and Landing Ship Tanks. He played a leading role in the design and development of the Godavari-class guided missile frigates, India’s first indigenously designed major warships, and was among the early pioneers of the Navy’s in-house design organisation.

After retiring early from the Navy in 1980, he joined Mazagon Dock as Head of Design, contributing to Coast Guard Offshore Patrol Vessels and a Diving Support Vessel programme. In 1984, he moved to the private sector, heading Mukand’s steel plant, and in 1989 became President of TVS Suzuki Limited (now TVS Motor Company), later serving as Director (Projects) and consultant.

He led the development of the iconic TVS Scooty and chaired the automobile industry panel on recycling. A recipient of the Vishisht Seva Medal (VSM), the FIE Foundation Award for Engineering Excellence, the Vasvik Award, and a Distinguished Alumnus of IIT, he has authored a trilogy reflecting different phases of his life and a book on the techno-economics of automotive recycling. Now in his ninetieth year, he continues to write and lecture.