Given that our new amphibious warfare ships will be able to out-carrier India's future carrier, the Indians are seeing the problem of taking what is really a battlecruiser with an aviation component and calling it a carrier. Refurbishment won't turn it into a carrier that its displacement would lead you to believe:
The original carrier’s complement was 12 Yak-38 Forger V/STOL fighters, 12 Ka-28 helicopters, and 2 Ka-31 airborne early warning helicopters. The removal of the Gorshkov’s forward missiles, ski ramp, and other modifications will improve the ship’s air complement somewhat. The nature of its original design, however, means that INS Vikramaditya will still fall short of comparably-sized western counterparts like the 43,000t FNS Charles de Gaulle nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, with its 40-plane complement that leans heavily to fighter jets. Ranges given for the refitted ship seem to average 12-16 fighters and 4-16 of the compact Ka-28/31 helicopters; diagrams of the refitted carrier seem to suggest total stowage space for a “footprint” of no more than 15-16 MiG-29Ks, with each Kamov helicopter sporting a comparative footprint of about 0.4 and about 5-6 open spots on deck.
Adding airborne early warning aircraft and any other specialty craft will reduce the combat element further.
India would do better to just copy an American 1944-era Essex class carrier than rely on Russian "expertise" in carrier design. I suppose the good news for India is that China has looked to the Russians, too. And isn't anywhere near to being a naval threat in the Indian Ocean.
