On October 29, The Ministry of Defence signed contracts with two state-owned shipbuilders for eight Next Generation Corvettes (NGCs) for the Indian Navy worth ₹53,866.50 crore. Under the contracts, Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) will build five corvettes and Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) will build three. 

The project was first cleared by the Defence Acquisition Council in June 2022, when its estimated cost was around ₹36,000 crore. The Cabinet Committee on Security cleared the project last week.

The NGCs displace around 3,800 to 4,000 tonnes, a size range comparable to India's 4,035-tonne displacement Talwar class frigates. This size is therefore relatively large for a ship classified as a corvette.

A corvette is a relatively small, fast warship used for combat and patrol missions, smaller than a frigate and a destroyer, but can still carry missiles, guns, torpedoes and advanced sensors. They are particularly useful in coastal waters and littoral areas, where their smaller size and manoeuvrability are beneficial.

While the NGCs are equal in displacement to the Talwar class, they do not have the medium range missiles that would qualify them to be called frigates. Each Talwar class FFG has two SA-7 medium range missile launchers and 24 9M317 Shtil-1 missiles with a range of around 45 km. 

The eight NGCs will be multi mission warships, with weapons and sensors allowing them to operate against threats from the air, surface and underwater domains.

They are expected to carry BrahMos anti ship missiles, short range surface to air missiles and an ALH Mk-III helicopter. 

The ships will support anti-surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, coastal defence, littoral combat and maritime surveillance. They will also protect India's maritime trade routes and maintain a naval presence at sea.

The project forms part of India's indigenous warship programme. According to the Defence Ministry, it is the first project in which the ships have been designed by the Indian Navy and will be built by Defence Public Sector Undertakings selected through a competitive process.

Savio Rodrigues

Savio Rodrigues is a Research Analyst at Escape Velocity MediaWorks Pvt Ltd and writes for Chakra News on Defence, Geopolitics, National Security. He holds a Master’s degree in International Relations from the University of Mumbai.