India, July 8 -- The Indian Navy will sharpen its edge in the Indian Ocean region with the induction of six locally made warships in around a year, a step towards strengthening its hold on the vast maritime expanse where China is steadily boosting its influence, officials aware of the matter said on Tuesday.

The Project 17A stealth frigates that the navy will be commissioning into service by August-September 2026 are Udaygiri, Taragiri, Mahendragiri, Himgiri, Dunagiri and Vindhyagiri --- platforms that will showcase the country's warship building prowess, have an indigenous content of 75% and come with modern weapons, sensors and systems to dominate the sea battlespace, the officials said.

The navy inducted the first P-17A warship INS N...