India Awards $5.7B Contract to Build Advanced Corvettes

“The induction of these ships will significantly enhance the Indian Navy’s operational capabilities in safeguarding maritime trade routes, conducting anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare operations, strengthening coastal defence, undertaking littoral combat operations, and carrying out maritime presence and surveillance missions,” the defense ministry said in its announcement.

The contract: eight Next Generation Corvettes for 53,866.50 crore rupees

India’s defense ministry announced a contract worth 53,866.50 crore Indian rupees — approximately US $5.7 billion — to build eight Next Generation Corvettes (NGCs). The award splits the program between two government-majority shipbuilders: Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Limited (GRSE) will build five corvettes, and Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) will build three. The ministry described the award as a “significant milestone.” A crore is equal to 10 million in the Indian numbering system; the ministry framed the procurement as a major domestic-build project.

GRSE and GSL: DPSU construction after navy design and competitive selection

The ministry noted that this is the first project in which the Indian Navy will design the ships and government-owned shipyards — Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) — will build them after being selected through a competitive process. Both GRSE and GSL are majority owned by the government, making the program an explicit domestic-build effort that pairs a navy-led design with state-owned industry execution.

Ship design and performance characteristics supplied by GRSE

GRSE provided specific dimensions and endurance figures for the vessels it will build: each corvette will measure 127 metres in length with a 17.6-metre beam and a specified deadweight tonnage of 4,950 tonnes. The ships will be operated by a crew of 150 personnel — 11 officers and 139 sailors — and will be capable of remaining at sea for up to 14 days without replenishment. GRSE said propulsion will be a combined diesel and gas turbine–cross connect (CODAG-CC) arrangement driving two controllable-pitch propellers (CPP), producing a reported top speed of 26 knots.

Weapons and sensors: indigenous and foreign components named

The corvettes will carry a mix of indigenous and foreign weapon systems, according to the shipbuilder and the ministry. GRSE listed armament that includes indigenous Medium Range Anti-Ship Missiles (MRAShM — also referred to as the Naval Anti-Ship Missile or NASM-MR), MRSAM medium-range surface-to-air missiles, and 324mm torpedo tubes. Other onboard weapons detailed by GRSE are the Leonardo 76mm Super Rapid naval gun, Russian AK-360 close-in weapon systems, and 12.7mm remote weapon stations. The ships will also feature electro-optical infrared search-and-track systems and multifunction surveillance, tracking and guidance radars — although neither the ministry nor the shipbuilders identified the specific radar or electro-optical systems selected.

Operational roles the ministry envisions

The defense ministry framed the corvettes’ purpose in operational terms: safeguarding maritime trade routes, conducting anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare, strengthening coastal defence, undertaking littoral combat, and providing maritime presence and surveillance. The ministry’s announcement tied those roles to a broader claim that the new ships will “significantly enhance” naval operational capabilities across those mission areas.

What this means for GRSE, GSL, and the Indian Navy

• GRSE and GSL: Both state-majority shipyards will undertake construction, integrating propulsion, weapons and sensor suites into the navy-designed hull; GRSE has already released detailed dimensional, endurance and crew figures for its five vessels.
• The Indian Navy: The navy is taking the lead on design for the NGCs and will oversee platform requirements, system selection and the integration of anti-surface, anti-air and anti-submarine capabilities into a corvette-sized ship intended for littoral and trade-route protection missions.
• The government and DPSU procurement process: The award is presented as the result of a competitive selection among government-owned shipyards, marking an explicit use of DPSUs for construction following a navy-led design process.

The announcement closes a commercial phase of the program but leaves a concrete technical question open: while GRSE and the ministry listed broad sensor and weapons categories, neither identified the specific multifunction radars or electro-optical systems to be fitted. Those selections — and the detailed integration work that follows — will determine how the corvettes translate listed capabilities into operational performance at sea.

https://breakingdefense.com/2026/11/india-taps-two-domestic-shipbuilders-for-5-7b-corvette-program/