The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has cleared a project worth over ₹40,000 crore to build eight Next Generation Corvettes (NGCs) for the Indian Navy, senior government officials told news agency ANI. The clearance was given at the CCS meeting held on Wednesday, and the officials said contracts for the eight warships would be signed in the next few days.

Source: ANI via Indian Economic Observer

The order will be split between two state-owned shipyards. Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) in Kolkata, which emerged as the lowest bidder (L1) when commercial bids were opened in May 2025, will build five corvettes, while Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) will build the remaining three at the matching unit cost, according to the officials quoted by ANI and India Sentinels.

Source: India Sentinels

8Next Generation Corvettes cleared
₹40,000 crore+Total project value
5 / 3Ships for GRSE Kolkata / Goa Shipyard
2030First vessel expected

After the contracts are signed, the Navy expects to receive the first warship by 2030, and the two shipyards are looking at ways to speed up construction and deliver earlier, ANI reported.

What the new corvettes will do

The Defence Ministry has described the Next Generation Corvettes as versatile platforms for surveillance missions, escort operations, deterrence, Surface Action Group operations, search and attack, and coastal defence. Reports put the ships at around 2,000 tonnes displacement with a top speed of around 30 knots and a new in-house design developed by the Indian Navy — detailed specifications have not yet been officially released, so those figures should be treated as reported, not confirmed.

The eight ships are meant to succeed the Navy's ageing Khukri-class and Kora-class corvettes. The project goes back to June 2022, when the Defence Acquisition Council granted Acceptance of Necessity for the eight corvettes at an estimated cost of around ₹36,000 crore.