New Delhi: A new, state-of-the-art Virtual Reality Centre (VRC) was Friday inaugurated by Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba here that would provide a "major boost" to indigenous warship design capabilities of the Navy, officials said.

The VRC at the the Directorate of Naval Design (Surface Ship Group), seeks to also provide impetus to "self-reliance and greater fillip" to warship construction under the 'Make in India' initiative of the Indian government, the Navy said in a statement.

The Directorate of Naval Design (Surface Ship Group) had a humble beginning in 1960s and since then has made major contributions towards indigenous warship design capabilities of the Indian Navy improving self-reliance for warship design and construction, it said.

"This centre would provide a major boost to indigenous warship design capabilities of the Indian Navy, providing impetus to self-reliance and greater fillip to warship construction under 'Make in India' initiative of the Indian government," the statement said.

In his address, Lanba said the project will facilitate collaborative design reviews for continuous interaction between designers and end-users to improve design and ergonomics onboard warships.

The multi-disciplinary team has successfully developed 19 warship designs on which more than 90 platforms have been constructed till date, it said.