Defence Ministry Signs Contracts Worth Rs 53,866 Crore for Eight Naval Corvettes

The Ministry of Defence signed contracts worth Rs 53,866.50 crore on November 2 with Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) and Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) for the construction of eight Next Generation Corvettes for the Indian Navy.

GRSE will build five of the vessels and GSL the remaining three. Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh attended the signing in New Delhi. The project is the first in which warships designed by the Indian Navy will be constructed by defence public sector undertakings chosen through a competitive process.

According to the ministry, the corvettes will carry advanced missiles, weapons, and sensor suites that allow operations across air, surface, and sub-surface domains. Their intended roles include anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare, coastal defence, littoral combat, maritime surveillance, and protection of sea lines of communication.

The vessels will complement the Navy's existing four Kamorta-class corvettes. Construction is expected to generate roughly 72 lakh person-days of employment at the shipyards and 460 lakh person-days in ancillary industries and micro, small, and medium enterprises over the next decade.

The programme supports the government's push for indigenous warship design and construction under the Aatmanirbhar Bharat framework. Private shipbuilders and local suppliers are expected to participate through subcontracting. Delivery timelines have not been publicly detailed beyond the overall multi-year construction window.

The contracts follow Cabinet Committee on Security approval. Officials described the deal as a milestone for domestic capacity in surface combatants. The Indian Navy currently operates a mix of imported and indigenous platforms; the NGC project is presented as a step that reduces reliance on foreign design for this class of vessel.

No cost overruns or technical specifications beyond the ministry statement have been released. The employment and industrial-participation figures will be tracked as construction advances at the two yards.