Ministry of Defence, Likely to Approve Rs 70,000 Crore for Construction of Warship

The Ministry of Defence is likely to approve a Rs 70,000 crore order for new warships to enhance the capabilities of the Indian Navy. Mazagon Dockyards Limited (MDL) and Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) are the two companies in the lead to bag the orders as per a report by the Economic Times.

The two state-run yards are presently developing Alpha frigates under Project 17A (Nilgiri class). The Project was launched by the Indian Navy in 2019 to develop a series of stealth guided-missile frigates.

The distinct feature of stealth-guided missile frigates is that it has radar-absorbent coatings and is low-observable which helps in making it less detectable for the enemies.

The defence ministry is yet to announce the details about the project but it is most likely to split the project between the two yards. The same route was taken by the ministry in Project 17A as splitting the project helps in timely delivery.

The frigates under the proposed order will have high indigenous content, a domestically developed fire control system, Brahmos cruise missiles, anti-submarine weapons, and electronic warfare systems. The order will benefit sub-suppliers and vendors who will largely get the work from this.

GRSE is a Kolkata-based yard, started out as a small workshop to repair vessels of River Steam Navigation Company as a private venture and was acquired by the Government of India in 1960.

It was the first shipyard of independent India to build a warship for the Indian Navy, INS Ajay in 1961. The company is building next-generation offshore patrol vessels and anti-submarine warfare corvettes.

MDL is a Mumbai-based premier war-shipbuilding yard in India. It was a private company until 1960 when the Government took over. MDL has recently finished the construction of Project 15B class destroyers. It is currently developing the Kalvari class submarines, Project 17A class frigates.