GRSE, GSL bag ₹53,866-crore contracts to build 8 Navy corvettes

The Ministry of Defence has signed contracts worth ₹53,866.50 crore with Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Ltd (GRSE) and Goa Shipyard Ltd (GSL) for the construction of eight Next Generation Corvettes for the Indian Navy, providing a major boost to India's indigenous warship manufacturing programme.

The contracts were signed on November 2 in the presence of Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh at Kartavya Bhawan-2 in New Delhi, the ministry said in a statement.

Under the agreement, GRSE will construct five corvettes while GSL will build the remaining three. The ministry did not disclose the individual contract values awarded to the two shipyards.

The project marks the first time that warships indigenously designed by the Indian Navy will be constructed by defence public sector undertakings (DPSUs) selected through a competitive process, the ministry said. It is expected to strengthen India's domestic shipbuilding ecosystem through collaboration between defence shipyards, private shipyards and Indian industrial partners, including micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

Advanced weapons and surveillance capabilities

The Next Generation Corvettes will be equipped with advanced missiles, weapons and sensor suites, enabling them to undertake missions across air, surface and sub-surface domains.

The vessels are expected to enhance the Navy's capabilities in anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare, coastal defence, littoral combat operations and maritime surveillance. They will also play a role in safeguarding India's maritime trade routes and strengthening its presence across strategically important waters.

The project is expected 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 10 years.

The Ministry of Defence said the programme would promote the use of domestically manufactured materials and equipment, indigenous technologies and Indian technical expertise, supporting the government's Aatmanirbhar Bharat and Make in India initiatives in defence manufacturing.

Shares of GRSE rose following the contract announcement. The stock was trading at ₹2,030.40 on the NSE at 1:35 pm on November 2, up 4.46% or ₹86.70 from its previous close of ₹1,943.70. It had touched an intraday high of ₹2,063.80 during the session. However, the stock has declined more than 20% over the past year, underperforming the Nifty 500 index, which has fallen just over 6% during the same period.