NEW DELHI: In a major step towards engaging the private Indian Shipbuilding Industry on a large scale, the Ministry of Defence on Friday signed a contract with a private company to manufacture Multi-Purpose Vessels (MPVs).
It will be a first of its kind platform, constructed to provide cost-effective solutions to meet a variety of requirements of the Indian Navy.
Informing of the development, Indian Navy in a statement said, “Ministry of Defence has signed a contract with Larsen & Toubro (L&T) Limited for acquisition of two MPVs for Indian Navy at an overall cost of Rs 887 crore under the ‘Buy-Indian’ category.”
The contract was signed in the presence of Vice Admiral SN Ghormade, Vice Chief of the Naval Staff, and Pankaj Agarwal, Additional Secretary and Director General, Acquisition. Delivery of vessels is scheduled to commence from May 2025.
These vessels, to be built at L&T shipyard at Kattupally (near Chennai), will perform multi-role support functions such as maritime surveillance and patrol, launching/recovery of torpedoes and operation of various types of aerial, surface and underwater targets for gunnery/anti-submarine warfare firing exercises.
These vessels would be capable of towing ships and rendering humanitarian assistance and disaster relief with a limited hospital ship capability. India is actively working to reduce its import of defence arms and equipment.