₹53,866-Crore Contracts for Eight Next Generation Corvettes: Navy-Designed Warships Built by Defence PSUs
The Ministry of Defence signed contracts worth ₹53,866.50 crore with two state-owned shipyards to build eight Next Generation Corvettes (NGCs) for the Indian Navy. The contracts were signed on 2 November 2026 in New Delhi, in the presence of the Defence Secretary.
Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE), Kolkata will build five ships and Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) will build three. Both are Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs).
The Ministry called it the first project in which the warships are designed in India by the Indian Navy itself and built by DPSUs chosen through a competitive process (bidding), not simply handed to one yard.
The corvettes will carry missiles, guns and sensors for fighting in the air, on the surface and under water. Their jobs include guarding sea trade routes, anti-ship and anti-submarine warfare, coastal defence, combat close to the shore and maritime surveillance.
The Ministry estimates about 72 lakh person-days of work in the shipyards and 460 lakh person-days in supplier industries and MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) over the next 10 years. The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) cleared the project a few days before the signing.
Warship Classification: Frigates, Destroyers, and Corvettes
Navies group their fighting ships into classes such as corvettes, frigates and destroyers, mainly by size and by the jobs they can do. A corvette is the smallest of these. It is built mostly for work near the coast and in nearby seas. A frigate is medium-sized and often specialises in hunting submarines or escorting other ships. A destroyer is larger, carries more weapons and can defend a whole group of ships against air attack far out at sea.
The eight new ships are corvettes: small, multi-role warships for India's near seas. Their listed roles (coastal defence, littoral combat, anti-submarine work) match the classic job of a corvette.
Indigenous Warship Building and "Aatmanirbharta" in Defence Production
Indigenous warship building means designing and building naval ships inside India, using Indian shipyards, Indian designers and, as far as possible, Indian-made steel, engines, weapons and electronics. Aatmanirbharta is the Hindi word for self-reliance. India's Navy has its own in-house design organisation, so it can draw up warship designs and then hand them to shipyards to build. This is why the Navy is often called a "builder's navy".
The NGC contracts are a clear example of this policy in action. The design is Indian, the builders are Indian, and private firms and MSMEs are expected to supply many of the parts.
Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs)
Defence Public Sector Undertakings, or DPSUs, are companies owned mainly by the central government that make weapons and military equipment. They build fighter jets, helicopters, warships, submarines, missiles, radars, tanks, ammunition and much more for the Army, Navy and Air Force. India has 16 DPSUs. All of them work under the Department of Defence Production (DDP) of the Ministry of Defence.
Both builders of the new corvettes, GRSE and Goa Shipyard, are DPSUs. The contract shows the newer way of working with DPSUs: they had to compete for the work, and they are expected to spread orders to private firms and MSMEs.
- Contract value: ₹53,866.50 crore for 8 Next Generation Corvettes
- Builders: GRSE, Kolkata (5 ships) and Goa Shipyard Limited (3 ships)
- Signed: 2 November 2026, New Delhi, in the presence of the Defence Secretary
- First warships designed by the Indian Navy and awarded to DPSUs through a competitive process
- Roles: anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare, coastal defence, littoral combat, surveillance, protection of sea trade routes
- Employment estimate: about 72 lakh person-days in shipyards and 460 lakh person-days in ancillary industries and MSMEs over 10 years
- India has 16 DPSUs; defence production in 2024-25 was a record ₹1,50,590 crore