NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Defence (MoD) Monday signed contracts worth Rs 53,866.50 crore for eight Next Generation Corvettes (NGCs). The multi-role stealth warships are built to fight in the air, on the surface and under water, unlike the ageing single-role missile corvettes they will replace.
The contracts with Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) and Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) were signed in the national capital, less than a week after the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) cleared the project.
GRSE, which emerged as the lowest bidder in May last year, will build five of the corvettes in Kolkata, while GSL will build the remaining three. The first is expected to be delivered by 2030.
"It is the first project in which the ships will be indigenously designed by the Indian Navy and constructed by Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) selected through a competitive process," the MoD said in a statement.
The NGCs, with a speed of around 30 knots, also mark a shift in how the Navy uses its corvettes. The ageing Khukri and Kora-class ships, inducted from 1989 onwards, are essentially anti-ship missile platforms with weak air defence and little submarine-hunting capability. The Kamorta and Arnala-class ships are anti-submarine specialists.
The NGCs, on the other hand, will be able to fight across the air, surface and underwater domains. They are expected to carry BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles, surface-to-air missiles and torpedoes, along with advanced radars and sonars.
According to the MoD, they will "significantly enhance" the Navy's capabilities in protecting trade routes, anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare, coastal defence and littoral combat.
All this firepower comes at a price. At around Rs 6,733 crore apiece, each NGC costs over eight times as much as an Arnala-class anti-submarine shallow-water craft. GRSE contracted to build eight of those for Rs 6,311 crore in 2019.
The difference lies in what goes into the ship. Weapons, sensors and combat management systems account for the bulk of a modern warship's cost and the NGC carries a far heavier suite than any Indian corvette so far.
First-of-class design costs and escalation have also pushed the bill well beyond the Rs 36,000 crore at which the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) approved the project in 2022.
The deal also comes as India's maritime neighbourhood grows increasingly crowded. China, with the world's largest navy of over 370 warships and submarines, regularly sends warships, submarines and research vessels into the IOR, backed by its base in Djibouti.
Pakistan, meanwhile, commissioned the first of eight Chinese-designed Hangor-class submarines in April. Fitted with Stirling-based air-independent propulsion (AIP), they can stay submerged far longer than conventional diesel-electric boats.
The NGCs' anti-submarine suite is meant to track such boats, while their BrahMos missiles will add strike options against enemy warships and coastal targets. The new corvettes will also free up costlier destroyers and frigates for distant blue-water missions.
The Navy currently has around 140 warships, with 45 more under construction in Indian shipyards. It is looking to induct 60 more warships by 2035.