KOLKATA, June 30: India’s navy will acquire six new submarines and 33 ships, a top admiral said on Saturday, a day after India decided to invite bids for combat jets to upgrade its air force’s capability.

“Our interest is not restricted to the Indian Ocean,” Admiral Sureesh Mehta told reporters in the eastern city of Kolkata. He did not elaborate, but said “we need a vibrant navy” to safeguard India’s economic interests.

India has 7,516km of coastline.

Mehta said it would take about six years for the navy to acquire the six new submarines and 33 ships. It currently has 126 ships and 16 submarines, some of which are ageing.

India has been seeking to bolster its rise as an economic power by reshaping its armed forces into a modern military capable of projecting power well beyond its shores.

The defence ministry said on Friday that it was inviting bids from international aircraft makers for 126 combat jets to upgrade its air force’s capability at an estimated cost of Rs420 billion ($10 billion).

India is expected to evaluate aircraft built by US manufacturers Lockheed Martin and Boeing, France’s Dassault Aviation, Sweden’s Gripen-SAAB and Russia’s Sukhoi.

India’s defence spending has steadily risen in recent years, despite significant steps towards peace with Pakistan. The government raised the defence budget by 12 per cent to Rs960 billion ($21 billion) in fiscal 2007-08 to support the military’s modernisation.—AP