On 27 June 2026, ICGS Akshay — a new-generation Fast Patrol Vessel (FPV) — was commissioned into the Indian Coast Guard (Bharatiya Tatrakshak) at Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL), Goa. The name "Akshay" means "Indestructible." The ship was designed and built indigenously by Goa Shipyard Limited, a landmark for Aatmanirbhar Bharat in defence shipbuilding, and is fitted to carry out the full sweep of Coast Guard tasks — maritime law enforcement, coastal security, search and rescue, marine environmental protection and assistance to mariners in distress. For an NDA/CDS aspirant, the commissioning is the perfect doorway into a frequently-tested but often under-prepared institution: the Indian Coast Guard itself — its origins, charter, structure and fleet.
What the Indian Coast Guard is
The most testable fact is the Coast Guard's identity and status:
- The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) is an armed force of the Union — frequently called the "fourth armed force" after the Army, Navy and Air Force.
- It was formally established on 18 August 1978 under the Coast Guard Act, 1978, and functions under the Ministry of Defence.
- Its creation followed the recommendation of the Rustamji Committee, set up after a wave of smuggling and poaching in Indian waters made clear that the Navy (a war-fighting force) and customs (a land-based agency) were not suited to routine maritime policing.
- Its motto is "Vayam Rakshamah" — Sanskrit for "We Protect."
The clean revision line: the Coast Guard is a multi-mission maritime force that polices India's waters in peacetime, sitting in the space between the blue-water Navy and the coastal/Marine Police of the states. Its Hindi service name, Bharatiya Tatrakshak, is increasingly used in official releases, so recognise both. This is exactly the kind of institution-mapping that pays off across the NDA general-knowledge study material.
The charter of duties
The Coast Guard Act, 1978 lays down a clear charter — and examiners like to test whether you can separate Coast Guard work from Navy work:
- Safety and protection of artificial islands, offshore terminals and installations (such as oil rigs in the EEZ).
- Protection and assistance to fishermen and mariners in distress at sea.
- Preservation and protection of the marine environment, including controlling marine pollution (oil spills).
- Assisting customs and other authorities in anti-smuggling operations.
- Enforcement of maritime laws in force in India's maritime zones (territorial waters, contiguous zone and the Exclusive Economic Zone).
- Safety of life and property at sea and search and rescue (SAR) — the ICG is the designated national authority for maritime SAR.
A handy mnemonic for the Coast Guard's peacetime brief is the "4-S" idea its leadership often uses — to keep the seas Safe, Secure, Surveilled and clean (Sustainable). In war, the Coast Guard operates under the operational control of the Navy, but in peacetime it runs its own constabulary mission.
ICGS Akshay: where it fits in the fleet
To place ICGS Akshay correctly, fix the Coast Guard's main vessel categories — a likely "match the type" question:
- Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs): the largest Coast Guard ships, for long-range, deep-sea patrol of the EEZ, with a helicopter deck.
- Fast Patrol Vessels (FPVs): medium-sized, fast ships — the class Akshay belongs to — used for coastal patrol, fisheries protection, anti-smuggling and SAR closer to the coast.
- Interceptor Boats (IBs) and Inshore Patrol Vessels: small, very fast craft for harbour and near-shore interdiction.
- Air assets: Dornier maritime-surveillance aircraft and ALH Dhruv / Chetak helicopters for reconnaissance and rescue.
The "Akshay" name and the fact that it was built by Goa Shipyard Limited matter for two reasons. First, GSL is a Defence Public Sector Undertaking (DPSU) under the Ministry of Defence — so the ship is indigenously designed and built, reinforcing Aatmanirbhar Bharat in warship-building. Second, every new FPV expands the Coast Guard's ability to maintain a continuous presence along India's 7,500-plus-km coastline and across its 2-million-plus-sq-km EEZ. These self-reliance and indigenisation themes are exactly what serving-officer faculty unpack in the upcoming Cavalier courses in Delhi.
Structure, ranks and regions
CDS/NDA papers reward candidates who can sketch the organisation:
- The Coast Guard is headed by the Director General Indian Coast Guard (DGICG), headquartered at New Delhi, who reports to the Ministry of Defence.
- Its ranks broadly mirror the Indian Navy (e.g. Inspector General at the senior flag level, as seen in the commissioning, where Inspector General Bhisham Sharma, Commander, Coast Guard Region (West) was present).
- For command and control, the coastline is divided into Coast Guard Regions — North-West (Gandhinagar), West (Mumbai), East (Chennai), North-East (Kolkata) and the Andaman & Nicobar Region (Port Blair) — each further split into Districts. (ICGS Akshay, commissioned at Goa, strengthens the West seaboard.)
This regional layout maps the Coast Guard onto the same maritime geography you revise for the Navy and for India's island territories — a recurring crossover in the GK paper.
Coastal security after 26/11: why the Coast Guard's role grew
The single most important policy fact is the post-26/11 overhaul. After the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, in which attackers came by sea, India rebuilt its coastal-security architecture and the Indian Coast Guard was designated the authority responsible for coastal security in territorial waters (including for the protection of islands and offshore installations). The result is the three-tier coastal-security grid:
- Indian Navy — the outermost layer, responsible for the seaward defence of the maritime zones.
- Indian Coast Guard — the middle layer, patrolling territorial waters and the contiguous zone and coordinating coastal security.
- State Marine Police — the innermost layer, policing the shallow coastal waters and the shoreline.
Supporting this grid are coastal radar chains, the National Command Control Communication and Intelligence (NC3I) network, the Information Fusion Centre – Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) and joint coastal-security exercises (such as "Sagar Kavach"). The Coast Guard sits at the heart of this everyday vigilance — which is why the steady induction of ships like Akshay is more than ceremonial.
The big picture for an aspirant
Pull the threads together and the news writes its own answer key. The Indian Coast Guard (Bharatiya Tatrakshak) is an armed force of the Union — the "fourth armed force" — established on 18 August 1978 under the Coast Guard Act, 1978, on the Rustamji Committee's recommendation, functioning under the Ministry of Defence, with the motto "Vayam Rakshamah." Its charter spans law enforcement, anti-smuggling, marine-environment protection, fisheries safety and search and rescue; in war it comes under the Navy. ICGS Akshay — an indigenous Fast Patrol Vessel built by Goa Shipyard Limited, commissioned on 27 June 2026 — adds to the West-coast fleet and embodies Aatmanirbhar Bharat. Layer on the three-tier coastal-security grid (Navy–Coast Guard–Marine Police) that emerged after 26/11, and you have a complete, examinable fact-set — and a strong SSB lecturette on "guardians of India's coastline."
🎯 Practice MCQs
Q1. The Indian Coast Guard functions under which Union Ministry? (a) Ministry of Home Affairs (b) Ministry of Defence (c) Ministry of Shipping/Ports (d) Ministry of External Affairs → (b) — unlike most internal-security forces (which are under Home Affairs), the Coast Guard is under the Ministry of Defence.
Q2. The Indian Coast Guard was formally established in which year, under the Coast Guard Act? (a) 1971 (b) 1978 (c) 1986 (d) 1992 → (b) — established on 18 August 1978 under the Coast Guard Act, 1978.
Q3. The motto of the Indian Coast Guard is: (a) Sevā Paramo Dharma (b) Vayam Rakshamah (c) Shano Varuna (d) Nabhah Sparsham Diptam → (b) — "Vayam Rakshamah" ("We Protect"); "Shano Varuna" is the Navy's motto.
Q4. ICGS Akshay, commissioned in June 2026, is a vessel of which type? (a) Offshore Patrol Vessel (b) Fast Patrol Vessel (c) aircraft carrier (d) submarine → (b) — a new-generation Fast Patrol Vessel, built by Goa Shipyard Limited.
Q5. The committee whose recommendation led to the creation of the Indian Coast Guard was the: (a) Kargil Review Committee (b) Rustamji Committee (c) Naresh Chandra Committee (d) Shekatkar Committee → (b) — the Rustamji Committee, set up amid rampant sea-borne smuggling.
Q6. After the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, the agency designated responsible for coastal security in territorial waters is the: (a) Indian Navy (b) Indian Coast Guard (c) state Marine Police (d) BSF → (b) — the Coast Guard anchors the middle tier of the three-tier coastal-security grid.
Q7. In the three-tier coastal-security grid, the innermost layer (shallow coastal waters and shoreline) is policed by the: (a) Indian Navy (b) Indian Coast Guard (c) State Marine Police (d) CISF → (c) — Navy (seaward) → Coast Guard (territorial waters) → Marine Police (coast).
Q8. ICGS Akshay was built by which Defence PSU shipyard? (a) Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders (b) Cochin Shipyard (c) Goa Shipyard Limited (d) Garden Reach Shipbuilders → (c) — Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL), reinforcing indigenous shipbuilding under Aatmanirbhar Bharat.
📋 How this gets asked (PYQ pattern)
The armed forces of the Union are a standing GK set in NDA/CDS, and the Coast Guard is the most under-prepared of them — which is exactly why it is examined. The reliable items are its parent ministry (Defence, not Home Affairs), its establishment (1978 / Coast Guard Act), its motto ("Vayam Rakshamah"), and its status as the "fourth armed force." A favourite trap is mixing up the Coast Guard with the Navy or with Home-Ministry forces like the BSF. On the policy side, the post-26/11 three-tier coastal-security grid (Navy–Coast Guard–Marine Police) is a high-probability "who does what" question. The fresh 2026 hook is the commissioning of ICGS Akshay, an indigenous Fast Patrol Vessel from Goa Shipyard Limited — ideal for "which ship / which builder / which type" framings and an Aatmanirbhar Bharat angle. We avoid quoting any specific past-paper number; the pattern above reflects how the topic recurs.
Preparing for NDA or CDS? The Indian Coast Guard — its charter, the "fourth armed force" status and the three-tier coastal-security grid — is high-yield GK and a ready-made SSB lecturette on coastal defence. Track our daily NDA current affairs and train with serving-officer faculty in the upcoming Cavalier courses in Delhi.
✍️ Written by Col Vijyanat Thakur — Veteran, Indian Army; 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: PIB release, 27 June 2026. Facts cross-verified.