India signs ₹53,866 crore contracts for eight next-generation Navy corvettes

The Ministry of Defence signed contracts worth ₹53,866.50 crore on 2 November for eight Next Generation Corvettes for the Indian Navy. Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers will construct five of the ships; Goa Shipyard Limited will build the remaining three.

Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh attended the signing at Kartavya Bhawan-2 in New Delhi. The project is the first in which warships designed by the Indian Navy itself will be constructed by Defence Public Sector Undertakings chosen through competitive bidding. The Cabinet Committee on Security had approved the programme on 29 October.

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

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 will also increase the use of Indian materials, equipment and technologies, advancing the government’s self-reliance goals in defence manufacturing.

The eight ships will complement the Navy’s existing Kamorta-class corvettes. GRSE, based in Kolkata, and GSL in Goa were selected after a competitive process. Private shipyards did not displace the public yards in the final award.

The ministry said the induction of the vessels will strengthen the Navy’s combat capabilities in the Indian Ocean at a time of increased Chinese naval activity in the region. Delivery timelines have not been publicly detailed beyond the overall employment and production schedule spanning the coming decade.

This contract is the largest recent award for indigenous corvette construction. It follows the competitive selection model the Navy and ministry have sought to expand for future surface combatants.