India’s Ministry of Defence has signed contracts worth ₹53,866.5 crore ($5.7 billion) with Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) and Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) for eight Next Generation Corvettes for the Indian Navy, according to Naval News’ report on the contract.
GRSE will build five ships under a contract valued at about ₹32,000 crore, while GSL will build the remaining three. Both shipyards plan to launch their first corvettes in late 2029, with deliveries expected to begin in 2031. The award is for construction rather than delivered or operational ships.
The program represents a step beyond the status described in Naval News’ earlier reporting. In August 2023, the publication said the eight-ship NGC project had been cleared in June 2022 and was expected to produce a request for proposal by the end of that year, with an estimated value of $4.5 billion. The current contract therefore establishes suppliers, quantities and a delivery timetable that were not yet fixed in that earlier account, although the two reports use different program-value figures. Naval News’ 2023 report provides that earlier program context.
The corvettes are described as indigenously designed by the Indian Navy and built by defense public-sector shipyards selected through competition. The reported fit includes Medium Range Anti-Ship Missiles, MRSAM surface-to-air missiles, torpedo tubes, a 76 mm gun, an AK-630 close-in weapon system and MFSTAR radar. Naval News says the ships are planned to carry 16 MRSAM missiles in two eight-cell vertical launch units.
Some design details remain provisional. The publication says a low-resolution render appears to show launcher arrangements that could support up to 16 anti-ship missiles, but qualifies that interpretation. The contract announcement confirms an order and planned schedule; it does not establish that the corvettes have been launched, accepted or entered Navy service.