GRSE signs Rs 32,000 crore contract for five Navy corvettes

Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Ltd. signed an approximately Rs 32,000 crore contract with the Indian Navy on 2 November 2026 to construct five Next Generation Corvettes, converting GRSE’s 22 May 2025 lowest-bidder status into a contracted five-vessel programme. Each announced vessel is specified at 127 metres and 4,950 tonnes.

What did GRSE sign with the Indian Navy?

GRSE signed a contract in New Delhi on 2 November 2026 to build five Next Generation Corvettes, or NGCs, for the Indian Navy at an approximate value of Rs 32,000 crore. The company disclosed the agreement under Regulation 30 of the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements Regulations, 2015.

The agreement follows GRSE’s 22 May 2025 disclosure that it had emerged as the lowest bidder, or L1, for the NGC project. The change is from L1 status to a signed construction contract; GRSE did not disclose a delivery timetable, payment terms, vessel-wise price or expected financial contribution from the five ships.

The contract was signed by Dinesh Kumar, IAS, JS & AM (MS) at the Ministry of Defence, and Commander Shantanu Bose, IN (Retd), Director (Shipbuilding) at GRSE. GRSE said Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh, IAS, and Chairman and Managing Director Commodore P. R. Hari, IN (Retd), were present at the 2 November signing.

How does the NGC order fit GRSE’s existing workload?

The five-NGC programme joins a disclosed workload that includes nine warships under construction and orders for 36 other platforms. GRSE said the nine warships comprise one advanced guided-missile frigate under the Indian Navy’s Project 17A, four anti-submarine warfare shallow-water craft and four Next Generation Offshore Patrol Vessels.

The new NGC programme differs in disclosed role from the existing three groups of nine ships. GRSE describes the five vessels as multi-role frontline combat platforms, while the current construction list separates the Project 17A frigate, anti-submarine warfare shallow-water craft and offshore patrol vessels by programme.

GRSE also said it is executing orders for 36 other platforms, including 13 export vessels. The announcement describes those orders separately from the nine warships being built, but does not identify individual platforms, construction milestones, contract values or the share of the workload assigned to each of its facilities.

GRSE reported capacity for concurrent construction of 28 ships and said it has seven operational units in Kolkata, West Bengal, and one in Ranchi, Jharkhand. It also said it has four distinct shipyards, though the filing does not state which yard will build any of the five NGCs or the sequence in which they will be constructed.

What are the specifications of GRSE’s NGCs?

GRSE said each NGC will measure 127 metres in length and 17.6 metres in beam, with a specified deadweight tonnage of 4,950 tonnes. The design calls for 14 days of endurance at sea without replenishment, a maximum speed of 26 knots, and accommodation for 11 officers and 139 sailors.

The five warships will use a Combined Diesel and Gas Turbine-CrossConnect, or CODAG-CC, propulsion arrangement driving two Controllable Pitch Propellers, or CPPs. GRSE said the vessels will be built to the classification requirements of a classification society approved by Naval Headquarters.

The announced mission profile includes ship-to-ship and ship-to-surface missile attacks, anti-missile defence, anti-submarine warfare, escort duties, maritime interdiction operations and local naval defence. The company said maritime interdiction operations include Visit, Board, Search and Seizure, or VBSS, and that the ships will have helicopter-operating capability.

The proposed weapons fit includes medium-range anti-ship missiles, medium-range surface-to-air missiles, or MRSAM, 324 mm torpedo tubes, an upgraded OTO Melara 76 mm Super Rapid Gun Mount, an AK-630 Close-In Weapon System and 12.7 mm Stabilised Remote-Controlled Guns. The listed sensor suite includes an Electro-Optical Infrared Search and Track system and a Multi-Function Surveillance, Track and Guidance Radar, or MFSTAR.

What does the contract add to GRSE’s shipbuilding record?

The contract adds five more Indian Navy corvettes to a shipbuilder that reported delivery of 118 warships to the Indian Navy, Indian Coast Guard and friendly foreign nations over more than six decades. GRSE said it has built more than 800 platforms in total, including frigates, corvettes, fleet tankers, landing vessels, survey vessels and offshore patrol vessels.

GRSE said it has prior experience constructing guided-missile corvettes and anti-submarine warfare corvettes. For the five NGCs, the company specifically cited enhanced capabilities, advanced sensors and sophisticated weapons systems, although the release does not provide comparable technical specifications for its earlier corvette classes.

The company dates its origin to 1884 as a workshop repairing River Steam Navigation Company vessels, and said the Government of India took it over in 1960. GRSE identified INS Ajay, a Seaward Defence Boat built in 1961, as the first warship for the Indian Navy constructed by an independent Indian shipyard.

GRSE is a Navratna company under the Ministry of Defence and said it is the only Indian shipbuilder with four distinct shipyards. Its stated record of 118 delivered warships covers Indian Navy, Indian Coast Guard and friendly foreign customers, while its current order disclosure includes 13 export vessels within the 36 other platforms.

Conclusion

The Rs 32,000 crore agreement gives GRSE a signed five-vessel NGC programme after its L1 disclosure in May 2025. The order is material in scale and adds multi-role warships with a stated 127-metre length, 4,950-tonne deadweight and 26-knot maximum speed to a construction workload that already includes nine warships.

What to watch next is execution alongside the nine warships under construction and 36 other platforms on order, including 13 for export. GRSE has disclosed capacity to construct 28 ships concurrently, but has not disclosed NGC delivery dates, production allocation, payment milestones or programme-wise revenue timing.