Rajnath Singh lays foundation for five expansion projects of GRSE, Yantra India in Bengal
The Defence Ministry laid the foundation for five brownfield expansion projects worth nearly Rs 3,500 crore, spread across facilities of Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) and Yantra India Limited (YIL) in West Bengal
Three GRSE projects are located at Kidderpore (Kolkata), Shalimar (Howrah), and Raichak (South 24 Parganas), aimed at expanding shipbuilding and ship-repair capacity
Two Yantra India projects at the Metal and Steel Factory (MSF), Ichhapore, are intended to strengthen indigenous metallurgical and precision-manufacturing capability for defence production
The Raichak facility will include a 200-metre dry dock, slipway, and launching pad, enabling construction of warships up to 200 metres and commercial vessels up to 60,000 tonnes
GRSE — Miniratna Defence Shipyard
Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) is a Kolkata-based defence shipyard under the Ministry of Defence, one of India's oldest and most prolific warship builders, credited as the first Indian shipyard to build 100 warships.
Key Details
- Founded 1884 as a private company; nationalised by the Government of India in 1960
- Conferred Miniratna status in September 2006
- Core mandate: warship and patrol vessel construction/repair for the Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard (frigates, corvettes, survey vessels, landing craft)
- A proposal to elevate GRSE's status to Navratna was under inter-ministerial consideration in early 2026
The new Kidderpore, Shalimar, and Raichak expansion projects — including a dry dock capable of handling 200-metre warships — directly expand GRSE's shipbuilding capacity, supporting larger and more complex naval construction domestically.
Yantra India Limited and the Corporatisation of the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB)
Yantra India Limited (YIL) is one of seven Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) created when the Ordnance Factory Board's 41 production units were corporatised with effect from October 1, 2021, under the Atmanirbhar Bharat push for greater autonomy and efficiency in defence manufacturing.
Key Details
- The seven new DPSUs: Munitions India Limited, Armoured Vehicles Nigam Limited, Advanced Weapons and Equipment India Limited, Troop Comforts Limited, Yantra India Limited, India Optel Limited, and Gliders India Limited
- OFB (originally established in 1775 as the Board of Ordnance under the East India Company; reorganised multiple times since) ceased to exist as a departmental body from the "Appointed Date" of corporatisation
- Yantra India Limited focuses on machine tools, armament stores, and precision manufacturing, including facilities such as the Metal and Steel Factory, Ichhapore
- Objective of corporatisation: convert a government-department model into corporate entities with functional autonomy, enabling faster decision-making and export competitiveness
The two YIL projects at Ichhapore represent continued capital investment in the corporatised DPSU structure, aimed at building indigenous metallurgical capability — a direct follow-through on the 2021 OFB reform.
Defence Indigenisation Framework — Atmanirbhar Bharat in Defence Production
India's defence indigenisation push spans Positive Indigenisation Lists (items the forces will only procure from domestic sources beyond specified timelines), Aatmanirbhar Bharat in Defence Manufacturing, and capacity expansion in DPSUs and private industry alike, aimed at reducing import dependence and raising domestic defence production and exports.
Key Details
- The Ministry of Defence has notified multiple Positive Indigenisation Lists since August 2020, progressively barring import of listed platforms/components after set deadlines
- Domestic defence production and defence exports have both been tracked as key indicators; government targets set under the Defence Production and Export Promotion Policy (DPEPP) 2020
- Corporatised DPSUs (including GRSE indirectly through shared ecosystem, and YIL directly) are central instruments of this indigenisation strategy for shipbuilding inputs and precision components
- Investment break-up for the announced projects: GRSE's Raichak project over Rs 2,500 crore, Timber Pond (Shalimar) about Rs 100 crore, and Damodar facility (Kidderpore) about Rs 70 crore
The Rs 3,500-crore investment across GRSE and YIL facilities is presented as part of the broader indigenisation and shipbuilding self-reliance drive, expanding domestic capacity for both warship construction and the upstream metallurgical inputs needed for defence manufacturing.
- Total project value: nearly Rs 3,500 crore across five projects
- GRSE facilities: Kidderpore (Kolkata), Shalimar (Howrah), Raichak (South 24 Parganas)
- Yantra India facilities: two projects at the Metal and Steel Factory (MSF), Ichhapore
- Raichak facility: 200-metre dry dock; capable of warships up to 200 m and commercial vessels up to 60,000 tonnes
- GRSE nationalised: 1960; Miniratna status: September 2006
- OFB corporatised into 7 DPSUs effective October 1, 2021
- Approximate GRSE project investment split: Raichak (Rs 2,500+ crore), Timber Pond/Shalimar (~Rs 100 crore), Damodar/Kidderpore (~Rs 70 crore)