India

India Secures ₹53,866 Crore Deal for Eight New Corvettes to Boost Navy Capabilities

By Bhanu Pratap

India has signed defence contracts worth ₹53,866 crore to build eight next‑generation corvettes for the Indian Navy, a move aimed at strengthening maritime security and boosting indigenous warship production. The contracts were awarded to two defence public‑sector shipbuilders: Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd (GRSE) and Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL). GRSE will construct five of the corvettes, while GSL will build the remaining three.

The acquisition comes amid growing concerns over maritime security in the Indian Ocean Region, particularly China’s expanding naval presence. The new warships are expected to enhance the Navy’s ability to monitor maritime activity, protect vital sea routes and respond to emerging security challenges. They will be equipped with advanced missiles, weapons and sensor systems, enabling operations across air, surface and sub‑surface domains.

The Defence Ministry highlighted that this is the first project in which the ships will be designed by the Indian Navy itself and built by defence public‑sector undertakings. The corvettes’ multi‑domain capabilities are intended to strengthen operational flexibility in coastal waters and strategically important maritime areas, improving surveillance, threat detection and response to hostile surface and submarine activities.

The eight corvettes will serve a range of missions, including maritime security, anti‑surface warfare, anti‑submarine warfare, coastal defence, maritime surveillance and combat operations. The project is seen as a key step in India’s effort to strengthen its naval presence and safeguard critical sea lanes amid changing security dynamics in the Indo‑Pacific.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said the project would give a major boost to India’s domestic shipbuilding ecosystem by involving defence public‑sector undertakings, private shipyards and Indian industrial partners. He estimated that constructing the eight warships would generate approximately 72 lakh person‑days of employment at the shipyards and another 460 lakh person‑days in ancillary industries and micro, small and medium enterprises over the next ten years. The minister emphasized the programme’s focus on indigenous materials, equipment, technologies and skilled Indian manpower, viewing it as a significant step toward achieving self‑reliance in defence manufacturing and reinforcing the Make in India initiative.

The ₹53,866‑crore programme will be executed by GRSE and GSL under the Ministry of Defence, and is expected to deepen India’s domestic defence manufacturing base and improve its capacity to design and construct advanced warships.