NEW DELHI, March 30 (Xinhua) -- India successfully test fired its indigenous Dhanush missile, a nuclear-capable short-range ballistic missile, off east Indian state Orissa's coast on Friday, according to Indo-Asian News Service.

    The news quoted defense sources as saying that the missile was test-fired from a naval ship in the Bay of Bengal at a distance of nearly 60 km from the Integrated Test Range of Chandipur in Orissa at about 2:30 p.m.

    Developed and built by the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) exclusively for the Indian navy, Dhanush has a 250-km striking range and can carry a single warhead up to 750 kg.

    The missile, which is a part of India's Integrated Guided Missile Development Program, is about 8.53-meter long and 0.9-meter wide and has a launch weight of about 4.4 tons.

    Dhanush was first test-fired on April 11, 2000, from Chandipur. However, it failed due to a technical snag in its software system.