India Navy Next Generation Corvettes: Rs 53866 Crore Contracts Signed for 8 Indigenous Warships

The Defence Ministry has signed contracts worth Rs 53,866.50 crore for eight Next Generation Corvettes for the Indian Navy, giving a major push to indigenous warship building in India. The contracts were signed in New Delhi on 2 November 2026 with Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Limited and Goa Shipyard Limited, in the presence of Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh at Kartavya Bhawan-2.

Under the agreements, Kolkata-based Garden Reach Shipbuilders will construct five of the corvettes, while Goa Shipyard will build the remaining three. The eight vessels are advanced, multi-role warships that will carry modern missiles, weapons and sensor systems, allowing them to operate across air, surface and underwater domains. They are expected to replace the ageing Khukri and Kora-class ships currently in service, and officials quoted by news agencies have said the first ship is expected to reach the Navy by 2030.

The Defence Ministry has described the project as a first for India. It is the first programme in which warships designed indigenously by the Indian Navy itself will be built by defence public sector undertakings selected through a competitive process. That combination — an Indian design, Indian shipyards and competitive selection — is being presented as a milestone for self-reliance in defence manufacturing.

The programme is also expected to support jobs and industry well beyond the two shipyards. Reports citing the ministry say construction is expected to generate more than 5.3 crore person-days of employment over the next ten years across shipyards and allied industries, bringing in private industry and small enterprises alongside the public yards. Greater use of domestically made materials, equipment and technologies is expected to strengthen India’s expertise in warship construction.

The signing follows clearance of the project by the Cabinet Committee on Security last week, and it sits squarely within the government’s Aatmanirbhar Bharat and Make in India push in defence. For the Navy, the new corvettes will add modern combat capability at a time when maritime security is gaining importance, while for Indian industry they mark a step from buying and assembling equipment towards designing and building complex warships at home.