* The INS Vela is the fourth of the six submarines of Scorpene class that has completed its out fittings at the Mazagon Dock.

* The submarine has been named 'Vela' after an earlier submarine, which was the lead submarine, of the erstwhile Vela class, the second batch of the Foxtrot class submarines acquired from USSR.

* The fifth Scorpene class submarine will also be launched soon. MDL recently reported an annual turnover of Rs 4,500 crore.

* The out fittings were completed under a 2005 contract signed with France's DCNS — now rebranded as the Naval Group — as part of Indian Navy 's Project-75.

* The first submarine was scheduled to be delivered by 2012, but the project witnessed repeated delays.

* Of the six submarines, INS Kalvari was commissioned in December last year while INS Khanderi and INS Karanj are in advanced stages to join the Navy fleet

* The remaining two — INS Vagir and INS Vagsheer are in the "advanced stages of manufacturing" at the Mazagon Dock.

* The development assumes significance as Chinese ships increase their presence in the Indian Ocean. It said China's submarine force will grow between 65 and 70 by 2020.

* There is also the larger threat on water, including guided-missile cruisers, guided-missile destroyers, and guided-missile frigates, aircraft carriers, amphibious warships and more.

* On Sunday, Britain's Daily Mirror reported that talks are underway for India to buy detailed plans for the 65,000-tonne HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier and build an indigenous version based on it called INS Vishal in 2022.



In Video: Scorpene class submarine INS Vela launched