India’s Ministry of Defense has signed contracts with Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) and Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) for the construction of eight next-generation corvettes (NGCs) for the Indian Navy.
The contracts, worth Rs 53,866.50 crore ($5.6 billion), were signed on November 2, 2026, in New Delhi in the presence of Defense Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh. Under the agreements, GRSE will build five corvettes, while GSL will construct the remaining three.
The project marks the first time that warships designed by the Indian Navy will be built by Defense Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) selected through a competitive process, according to the Ministry of Defense.
The corvettes will feature advanced missiles, weapons and sensor systems, enabling operations across air, surface and subsurface domains. Their planned roles include anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare, coastal defence, littoral operations, maritime surveillance and the protection of maritime trade routes.
The program is also expected to support India's domestic shipbuilding industry through cooperation between public-sector shipyards, private shipbuilders and local industrial partners, including micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
According to the ministry, construction of the eight vessels is expected to generate approximately 72 lakh person-days of employment at the shipyards and 460 lakh person-days in ancillary industries and MSMEs over the next ten years.
The project is part of India's efforts to expand indigenous warship design and construction capabilities and increase the use of domestically produced materials, equipment and technologies in defense manufacturing.
In June this year, the Indian Navy commissioned three warships built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers, marking a milestone for the country’s indigenous shipbuilding industry.