The Ministry of Defence signed a Rs 53,866.50 crore deal on November 2 for eight Next Generation Corvettes for the Indian Navy. Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Goa Shipyard will build these ships. This project uses indigenous designs to boost local manufacturing and will create many jobs across the country soon.

The Next Generation Corvettes will be equipped with advanced missiles, weapons and sensor systems. PIB Image

The Ministry of Defence has signed contracts worth Rs 53,866.50 crore with Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Limited (GRSE) and Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) for the acquisition of eight Next Generation Corvettes (NGCs) for the Indian Navy.

The agreements were signed in the presence of Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh at Kartavya Bhawan-2 in New Delhi on November 2, 2026.

Under the project, GRSE will build five corvettes, while GSL will construct the remaining three. The programme is being seen as an important step in strengthening India's indigenous warship design and shipbuilding capabilities.

It is also the first project in which the ships will be designed indigenously by the Indian Navy and built by Defence Public Sector Undertakings selected through a competitive bidding process.

The Next Generation Corvettes will be equipped with advanced missiles, weapons and sensor systems. These capabilities will allow the ships to operate across air, surface and sub-surface domains.

Once inducted, the corvettes are expected to strengthen the Indian Navy's ability to protect maritime trade routes, carry out anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare, support coastal defence and undertake littoral combat operations. They will also be used for maritime surveillance and presence missions.

Boost to indigenous shipbuilding

The NGC project is also expected to give a major push to India's domestic shipbuilding ecosystem by increasing participation from Defence Public Sector Undertakings, private shipyards, Indian companies and MSMEs.

According to the Ministry of Defence, construction of the eight ships is expected to generate around 72 lakh person-days of employment in the shipyards and about 460 lakh person-days in ancillary industries and MSMEs over the next 10 years.

The project will also promote greater use of Made-in-India materials, equipment and indigenous technologies. The government said the programme is another step towards strengthening self-reliance in defence manufacturing and supporting the Make in India initiative.