Yes, agreed in principle. Of course, developments in big-ticket naval materiel is always a fluid dynamic and thus direct comparisons are not necessarily telling of the future. Although I would still point out that the IN has access to a far greater supply chain (i.e. US/Russia/Europe) for weapons and equipment and that the INS Vikrant seems to be further along than the 001A.
Having a more diverse and international supply chain I think is not necessarily a positive; it means your subsystems are at the whims of foreign govts, it complicates integration of a diverse array of systems, and any delays of your subcontractors and suppliers means delaying your ship's construction and fitting out. This is unfortunately something that has been a prevalent issue in previous IN ship programmes. Of course, if one's own domestic industry is unable to provide the necessary subsystems then contracting out to foreign suppliers is a necessity, but I'd hardly say "having access" to foreign suppliers is any sort of advantage. A better advantage would be the ability to source everything domestically so you can control the supply chain with more discipline.
INS Vikrant was laid down in
2009 (seven years ago!) and launched in its completed state (island and completed ski jump and completed hull and flight deck) last year in June. 001A was laid down, based on satellite photos, likely some time in April
last year, and the island, flight deck and hull are all near complete and will likely be launched within the next half year, and I wouldn't be surprised if the state of completion of 001A's upcoming launch compared to INS Vikrant proper launch last year in June is broadly similar.
From laying down to a launch of a similar state of completedness, 001A would have thus taken about two years, while INS Vikrant took six years, all the while 001A is a significantly larger ship.
Of course, 001A is also an evolution of the Liaoning design while INS Vikrant is a fresh design by the IN, but even then the sheer difference in rate of completion and the overall state of the two nation's shipbuilding industries, and looking at other similar projects of the two navies (such as destroyers, frigates etc) in the past, I think one is able to project just what the trajectories and capabilities of their shipbuilding industries are for these sort of big ticket items.
INS Vishal was originally (and could very well still) slated to be a nuclear-powered, EMALS-equipped carrier in the ~65000 ton range. This would give it a credible edge over both the 001A and 002 in terms of endurance and strike capability.
Anyways, my post was OT.
At this stage I don't think anyone knows what the INS Vishal will look like and the IN still seems to be drawing up a list of subsuppliers and foreign contractors to potentially be involved in the project.
They're planning for an early 2020s commissioning date (depending on which source one reads), but given the current state of the programme that we know, not to mention the IN's past implementation of past and current less complex projects, I would be expect them to commission INS Vikrant more likely by or fater 2025, if not late 2020s.
