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 2026 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.

This is the first project in which warships designed by the Indian Navy itself will be constructed by defence public sector undertakings chosen through competitive bidding. Earlier indigenous programmes typically assigned construction to a designated yard. The Cabinet Committee on Security had approved the project on 29 October at a cost exceeding ₹40,000 crore. The final contract value includes full procurement costs.

Each corvette is expected to displace around 2,000 tonnes and reach speeds of approximately 30 knots. The ships will carry advanced missiles, weapons and sensor suites for air, surface and sub-surface missions. Planned roles include anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare, coastal defence, littoral combat, maritime surveillance and protection of sea lanes. They will complement the existing four Kamorta-class corvettes.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh stated that construction will generate approximately 72 lakh person-days of employment in the shipyards and 460 lakh person-days in ancillary industries and MSMEs over the next ten years. The programme is intended to increase use of made-in-India materials, equipment and technologies. It forms part of the broader push for self-reliance in defence manufacturing.

The contracts were signed after the Navy completed the indigenous design. Competitive selection of the two public sector yards is presented as a step that strengthens collaboration between defence public sector units, private shipyards and smaller industrial partners. Officials have linked the acquisition to the need to maintain presence in the Indian Ocean amid increasing activity by other navies.

Delivery timelines have not been publicly detailed beyond the employment projections spanning a decade. The vessels are expected to enter service over the coming years once construction, trials and weapon integration are complete. The project follows other recent indigenous naval programmes, including the commissioning of anti-submarine warfare shallow-water craft such as INS Mahe.

The signing adds a concrete capital commitment to the Navy's surface fleet at a time when coastal and near-sea operations remain a stated priority. Whether the competitive process produces faster delivery or lower unit costs compared with previous single-yard allocations will become clearer once the first vessels begin sea trials.