On 18 June 2026, the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) inducted the first of six indigenous Air Cushion Vehicles (ACVs / hovercraft) at a ceremony in Goa. The vessels are being built by Chowgule & Company Pvt Ltd, a private Indian shipbuilder, and the induction enhances the ICG's ability to carry out its maritime duties while furthering Aatmanirbhar Bharat and strengthening India's maritime industrial base. For NDA aspirants, this compact news item opens up three exam-favourite themes: the Indian Coast Guard, the technology of hovercraft, and India's self-reliance push in shipbuilding.
The Indian Coast Guard — Mandate and Identity
The Indian Coast Guard was formally established on 18 August 1978 and is an armed force of the Union functioning under the Ministry of Defence. Its motto is "Vayam Rakshamah" — Sanskrit for "We Protect." It is headed by the Director General Indian Coast Guard (DGICG). NDA examiners regularly test its mandate, which is distinct from the Navy's war-fighting role:
- Maritime law enforcement in India's maritime zones
- Search and rescue (SAR) of mariners and fishermen in distress
- Anti-smuggling and anti-poaching operations
- Marine environment protection (combating oil spills and pollution)
- Protection of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and offshore assets
- Safety and security of fishermen and assistance during natural disasters
A crucial distinction to lock in: the Indian Navy (also under the Ministry of Defence) is the war-fighting maritime force for sea control and power projection, while the Coast Guard is primarily a constabulary / law-enforcement force for peacetime maritime safety and security — though both work closely together, especially after the 26/11 Mumbai attacks (2008) prompted a tighter coastal-security framework. Follow such defence updates in our daily NDA current affairs.
A little institutional history sharpens the answer. The idea of a dedicated maritime constabulary grew out of the Nag Chaudhuri Committee recommendations, and the force was raised under the Coast Guard Act, 1978. The ICG was the brainchild of India's first Prime Minister and the maritime-security gaps exposed by smuggling in the 1970s. After 26/11, India built a three-tier coastal-security grid — the Indian Navy for the outer layer, the Coast Guard for the intermediate waters and the EEZ, and the Marine Police of the coastal states for the near-shore and harbours — with the Navy designated the overall authority for coastal defence and the Director General Coast Guard as the commander for coastal security. The ICG also operates a chain of coastal radar stations and an Information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC) at Gurugram for maritime domain awareness. India's coastline runs to roughly 7,500 km, touching nine states and several Union Territories, which is the scale of the task the ICG polices.
What Is an Air Cushion Vehicle (Hovercraft)?
An Air Cushion Vehicle (ACV), commonly called a hovercraft, is an amphibious craft that rides on a cushion of air trapped beneath it by powerful fans and contained by a flexible "skirt." Because it does not rely on contact with the water's surface for support, it can travel over shallow water, mudflats, marshes, sandbanks, beaches and even land at high speed.
This is exactly why the ICG values them. Conventional ships need sufficient draught (depth of water) to operate and cannot enter shallow creeks, tidal flats and approaches where smugglers, poachers and infiltrators often operate. A hovercraft can patrol these shallow, inaccessible coastal stretches, conduct rapid search-and-rescue in marshy deltas, and reach areas no boat or ship can — making it a force multiplier for coastal surveillance and law enforcement along India's vast and varied coastline.
The principle at work is air-cushion technology: large fans drive air under the craft, and the trapped cushion lifts the hull a short distance off the surface, drastically reducing friction. Because it is amphibious, an ACV can transition between water and land without a slipway — a decisive advantage in the mudflats of the Sundarbans, the marshy creeks of the Rann of Kutch, and the tidal estuaries of the Gulf of Khambhat and the Gulf of Kutch, exactly the porous stretches near the Pakistan and Bangladesh maritime boundaries that are sensitive from a security standpoint. These are also areas prone to cyclones and flooding, where hovercraft excel at disaster relief by reaching cut-off communities. The induction of six indigenously built ACVs therefore plugs a specific operational gap rather than merely adding numbers to the fleet.
The EEZ, UNCLOS and Why India Guards Its Waters
A core reason the Coast Guard exists is to police India's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) — a high-frequency NDA topic. Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the EEZ extends up to 200 nautical miles from the baseline (the coast), within which the coastal state has sovereign rights to explore and exploit natural resources — fisheries, oil, gas and seabed minerals. Aspirants should also know the related maritime zones:
- Territorial Waters — up to 12 nautical miles (full sovereignty)
- Contiguous Zone — up to 24 nautical miles
- Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) — up to 200 nautical miles
India's EEZ is one of the world's largest — over two million square kilometres — rich in fisheries and hydrocarbons, which makes its protection a major economic and security task; and the ACVs add reach to that effort. Two further UNCLOS facts complete the picture. Beyond the EEZ lies the High Seas, governed by the principle of freedom of the seas and beyond any single state's jurisdiction; and the Continental Shelf can extend up to 350 nautical miles (or 100 nm beyond the 2,500-metre isobath) where the natural prolongation of land justifies it, giving the coastal state seabed-resource rights. UNCLOS, often called the "constitution of the oceans," was adopted in 1982 and came into force in 1996; India is a party. Examiners also like the distinction between the baseline (normally the low-water line, from which all zones are measured) and the zones themselves, and the idea that innocent passage of foreign vessels is permitted through territorial waters but is more restricted in internal waters.
Aatmanirbhar Bharat in Shipbuilding
The induction is a showcase of Aatmanirbhar Bharat (Self-Reliant India) and "Make in India" in the defence sector. By having a private Indian shipyard (Chowgule & Company) build all six hovercraft domestically, India reduces import dependence, saves foreign exchange, creates skilled jobs, and deepens its maritime/defence industrial base. Indigenous shipbuilding also gives India control over design, spares and lifecycle maintenance, and feeds the country's larger drive to become a net exporter of defence equipment. This fits a broader pattern of indigenous platforms — from the carrier INS Vikrant to a growing fleet of homemade patrol vessels — entering Indian service. The induction also showcases the role of the private sector in defence: for decades, warship and patrol-vessel construction was dominated by Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) such as Mazagon Dock, Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE), Goa Shipyard and Cochin Shipyard, so a private builder delivering an indigenous ICG platform marks a real broadening of the industrial base. Prepare for a career in uniform with veteran-officer faculty at Cavalier's upcoming courses in Delhi.
Aatmanirbharta in Defence — The Policy Scaffolding
The hovercraft induction is one data point in a deliberate policy architecture that NDA papers increasingly test. The government has used several levers to push self-reliance: "Positive Indigenisation Lists" issued by the Ministry of Defence that bar the import of specified items beyond a deadline, forcing domestic sourcing; the earmarking of a large share of the defence capital procurement budget for domestic industry; and liberalised FDI in defence (now permitting higher foreign investment under the automatic and government routes to bring in technology). The procurement rulebook, the Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2020, created a top-priority category called "Buy (Indian–IDDM)" — Indigenously Designed, Developed and Manufactured — which gives first preference to platforms designed and built in India, exactly the category this ACV illustrates. Supporting institutions include DRDO (research and design), the iDEX (Innovations for Defence Excellence) scheme that funds startups and MSMEs, and the two Defence Industrial Corridors in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. The strategic logic is sharp: import dependence is a vulnerability in wartime (foreign suppliers can withhold spares), it drains scarce foreign exchange, and it forfeits the jobs and technological depth that come from building at home. For an SSB or essay answer, linking the single hovercraft to this wider framework — IDDM, iDEX, indigenisation lists, the DPSU-to-private shift — demonstrates the joined-up understanding examiners look for.
🎯 Practice MCQs
Q1. The Indian Coast Guard functions under which ministry? (a) Ministry of Home Affairs (b) Ministry of Shipping (c) Ministry of Defence (d) Ministry of External Affairs → (c) — it is an armed force of the Union under the Ministry of Defence.
Q2. The motto of the Indian Coast Guard is: (a) Vayam Rakshamah (b) Shano Varuna (c) Nabhah Sprasham Diptam (d) Service Before Self → (a) — "Vayam Rakshamah" means "We Protect"; "Shano Varuna" is the Navy's motto.
Q3. Under UNCLOS, the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) extends up to: (a) 12 nautical miles (b) 24 nautical miles (c) 200 nautical miles (d) 350 nautical miles → (c) — 200 nm; territorial waters are 12 nm and the contiguous zone 24 nm.
Q4. An Air Cushion Vehicle (hovercraft) is especially useful because it can: (a) Dive underwater (b) Operate over shallow water, mudflats and beaches (c) Fly at high altitude (d) Carry ballistic missiles → (b) — it rides on a cushion of air and is amphibious.
Q5. The induction of indigenous hovercraft built by Chowgule & Company best reflects: (a) Foreign Direct Investment (b) Aatmanirbhar Bharat / Make in India (c) Privatisation of the Navy (d) UNCLOS arbitration → (b) — domestic manufacture furthering self-reliance in shipbuilding.
Q6. Which legislation provided for the raising of the Indian Coast Guard? (a) Navy Act, 1957 (b) Coast Guard Act, 1978 (c) Maritime Zones Act, 1976 (d) Customs Act, 1962 → (b) — The Coast Guard Act, 1978 established the ICG as an armed force of the Union under the Ministry of Defence.
Q7. Under UNCLOS, the contiguous zone extends up to how many nautical miles from the baseline? (a) 12 nm (b) 24 nm (c) 100 nm (d) 200 nm → (b) — The contiguous zone is up to 24 nm; territorial waters are 12 nm and the EEZ 200 nm.
Q8. The DAP 2020 procurement category giving top priority to platforms both designed and made in India is: (a) Buy (Global) (b) Buy and Make (c) Buy (Indian–IDDM) (d) Lease (Indian) → (c) — "Buy (Indian–IDDM)" — Indigenously Designed, Developed and Manufactured — is the highest-priority category.
📋 How this gets asked (PYQ pattern)
NDA papers recurrently test the Coast Guard basics (established 1978, under the Ministry of Defence, motto "Vayam Rakshamah", an armed force of the Union, headed by the DGICG) and the maritime-zone ladder under UNCLOS (12 nm territorial / 24 nm contiguous / 200 nm EEZ, with the continental shelf out to 350 nm), often pairing them with the Navy vs Coast Guard role distinction and the post-26/11 three-tier coastal-security grid. Self-reliance themes increasingly surface as Make in India / IDDM / iDEX / DPSU match-the-following items, and the Coast Guard Act 1978 appears as a date-and-law one-liner. The fresh 2026 hook is the first indigenous Air Cushion Vehicle — expect a "what is a hovercraft / who built it / which force" one-liner tied to the Make in India theme.
Targeting the NDA? The Coast Guard, maritime zones and self-reliance are reliable GK and SSB-interview themes. Keep sharpening your defence current affairs at NDA/CDS Current Affairs and train with serving-officer faculty at Cavalier's upcoming courses in Delhi.
✍️ Written by Col Vijyanat Thakur — Veteran, Indian Army; SSB & defence-studies faculty at The Cavalier. Reviewed by the Cavalier Faculty Desk. The Cavalier, founded by ex-Army officers, has trained NDA/CDS/SSB aspirants since 2001 (Facebook · YouTube).
Source: Ministry of Defence PIB release, 18 June 2026 (PRID 2274642). Facts cross-verified.