Defence Ministry Signs Contracts Worth Rs 53,866 Crore for Eight Next-Generation Corvettes

The Ministry of Defence signed contracts totalling Rs 53,866.50 crore with Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) and Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) on 2 November for the construction of eight Next Generation Corvettes for the Indian Navy. Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh attended the signing at Kartavya Bhawan-2 in New Delhi.

GRSE will build five of the vessels. GSL will build the remaining three. The project is the first in which warships designed by the Indian Navy itself will be constructed by Defence Public Sector Undertakings chosen through a competitive process.

The corvettes are to carry advanced missiles, weapons and sensor suites for operations in the air, surface and sub-surface domains. Their intended roles include anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare, coastal defence, littoral combat and maritime surveillance. Each ship is expected to displace around 2,000 tonnes and reach speeds of about 30 knots.

Construction is projected to generate approximately 72 lakh person-days of employment in the shipyards and another 460 lakh person-days in ancillary industries and MSMEs over the next ten years. The programme is also expected to increase the use of indigenous materials, equipment and technologies.

The Cabinet Committee on Security had approved the project on 29 October at a cost exceeding Rs 40,000 crore. The final contract value reflects the full procurement package. The ships will complement the Navy’s existing Kamorta-class corvettes.

Officials described the contracts as a step in strengthening indigenous warship design and construction capacity. The competitive selection of the yards marks a shift from earlier nomination-based approaches for certain projects. Delivery timelines were not detailed in the initial statements, but the employment figures point to a multi-year construction programme.

The Indian Navy has expanded its surface fleet in recent years amid greater activity in the Indian Ocean. These eight corvettes add multi-role platforms suited to coastal and littoral operations as well as open-ocean tasks. The dual-yard approach spreads work between Kolkata-based GRSE and Goa-based GSL.

Further details on sensor and weapon configurations, exact displacement and delivery schedules are expected in subsequent official releases. The contracts place the design work with the Navy and the construction with the selected public-sector shipyards.