The navy said on Thursday the keel-laying ceremony for the vessel would be held on Saturday, but production of components for the 260-metre ship had already begun.

“With this project, India joins the select club of 40,000-tonne aircraft carrier designers and builders,” the navy said in a statement.

The carrier would be armed with surface-to-air missiles, latest radar and an array of other combat systems from Israel, France and Russia, naval officials said.

“This is the most prestigious project that the Indian navy has taken up in-house so far,” the navy said.

India currently has only one operational carrier — the INS Viraat — after scrapping its first, INS Vikrant, in 1997 after more than 35 years service. Viraat is scheduled to be phased out soon.

The country has been involved in a long-running wrangle with Moscow over a 2004 deal to buy a refurbished Soviet-era carrier, the Admiral Gorshkov.

The original price for the refit was $970 million, but Russia later demanded an additional $1.2 billion.

The two sides eventually settled for an extra $900 million, but the carrier has yet to be delivered and the latest reports suggest the Russian export firm Rosoboronexport wants to increase the price tag again.

The 137-ship Indian navy is in expansion mode and has new warships from the US navy and submarines from France.—AFP