The Ministry of Defence has signed contracts worth Rs. 53,866.50 crore with Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) and Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) for the construction of eight Next Generation Corvettes (NGCs) for the Indian Navy.
Under the agreement signed on November 2, 2026, GRSE will build five corvettes, while GSL will construct the remaining three. The contracts were signed in the presence of Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh in New Delhi.
The project marks a significant step in indigenous warship manufacturing, with the vessels to be designed by the Indian Navy and constructed by the two Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs), selected through a competitive bidding process.
The next-generation corvettes will feature advanced missiles, weapons and sensor systems, enabling operations across air, surface and sub-surface domains. They will strengthen the Navy's capabilities in anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare, coastal defence, maritime surveillance and protection of key trade routes.
The project is also expected to provide a major boost to India's domestic shipbuilding ecosystem by involving public sector shipyards, private manufacturers and MSMEs.
According to the Ministry, the project is expected to generate around 72 lakh person-days of employment in shipyards and 460 lakh person-days in ancillary industries and MSMEs over the next 10 years.
The initiative will promote the use of indigenous materials, equipment, technologies and skilled manpower, further supporting the government's Aatmanirbhar Bharat and Make in India initiatives in defence manufacturing.