India signs $6.4bn deal for eight home-built Naval warships

India’s Ministry of Defence has signed contracts worth 53,866.50 crore rupees (about $6.4bn) with two state-owned shipyards to build eight Next Generation Corvettes for the Indian Navy. Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) in Kolkata will construct five of the vessels, while Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) will build the remaining three. The deals were finalised in New Delhi on Monday in the presence of Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh.

The project is seen as a milestone for India’s shipbuilding industry. It is the first time the Indian Navy has designed warships in-house that will then be built by defence public-sector undertakings chosen through competition.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh welcomed the move, writing on X: “Great news for India’s indigenous shipbuilding ecosystem. The Next Generation Corvettes (NGCs) project for the Indian Navy will provide a significant impetus to India’s shipbuilding sector by strengthening collaboration among DPSUs, private shipyards and Indian industrial partners, including MSMEs.”

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He added that the programme would generate roughly 72 lakh (7.2 million) person-days of work in the shipyards and another 460 lakh person-days in supporting industries and small firms over the next decade. “By promoting the use of Made-in-India materials and equipment, indigenous technologies, and Indian skills and expertise, the project represents a major step towards achieving Aatmanirbharta in defence manufacturing,” Singh said.

The corvettes will carry advanced missiles, weapons and sensors, allowing them to operate against air, surface and underwater threats. Officials say the ships will strengthen the Navy’s ability to protect sea lanes used by merchant traffic, conduct anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare, defend the coast, operate in shallow littoral waters, and maintain a visible presence for surveillance and deterrence.

The vessels are expected to join the fleet from around 2030. Their induction will expand the Navy’s fleet of smaller, agile surface combatants at a time when New Delhi is seeking greater self-reliance in military hardware by 2047, the centenary of independence.