CCS Approves Over ₹40,000 Crore Project for Eight Next Generation Corvettes for the Indian Navy

The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved a project worth over ₹40,000 crore to build eight Next Generation Corvettes for the Indian Navy. The clearance, given at a meeting earlier this week, is one of the biggest warship-building approvals in recent years.

Two Indian defence shipyards will build the ships. According to senior government officials quoted by ANI, contracts are expected to be signed within the next few days.

Who will build the ships

The order has been divided between two public sector shipyards:

• Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE), Kolkata: Five corvettes.

• Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL): Three corvettes.

Both shipyards will build the ships at the same unit cost. The order is a major boost to their order books and to the wider defence manufacturing sector under the Atmanirbhar Bharat push.

What the corvettes will do

According to the Ministry of Defence, the corvettes will be multi-role ships able to handle a wide range of missions:

• Surveillance: Keeping watch over India’s waters and sea lanes.

• Escort duties: Protecting larger ships and merchant vessels.

• Deterrence and strike: Operating as part of Surface Action Groups and carrying out search-and-attack missions.

• Coastal defence: Guarding India’s coastline and nearby waters.

The Indian Navy designed the ships in-house using the latest shipbuilding technology. The Naval Science and Technological Laboratory (NSTL), Visakhapatnam, has completed hydrodynamic model testing of the design together with the Navy’s Warship Design Bureau.

Detailed specifications have not been officially released. Some reports put the displacement at around 2,000 tonnes and the top speed at about 30 knots, but these figures are yet to be confirmed.

Replacing older ships

The new corvettes will replace the Navy’s ageing Khukri-class and Kora-class corvettes, which entered service between the late 1980s and the early 2000s. Several of these ships are nearing the end of their service lives, and some have already been decommissioned.

Timeline

The Navy is expected to receive the first ship around 2030, and the shipyards are reported to be looking at ways to speed up delivery.

The project has gone through several stages to reach this point:

• June 2022: The Defence Acquisition Council granted Acceptance of Necessity for the eight ships, then valued at about ₹36,000 crore.

• May 2025: GRSE emerged as the lowest bidder (L1) when commercial bids were opened.

• 2026: Price negotiations were completed.

• October 2026: The CCS cleared the project, removing the last major hurdle before the contracts are signed.

Why it matters

Foreign navies are increasingly active in the Indian Ocean Region, and India also faces threats such as piracy and the need to protect key trade routes. Corvettes are smaller than destroyers and frigates, but they are fast, flexible and well suited to patrolling coastal waters and nearby seas. A fleet of modern corvettes also frees up larger warships for missions further out at sea.

The Ministry of Defence said the ships will also support the SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) vision, under which India works with friendly countries to keep the Indian Ocean safe and secure.

About the CCS

The CCS is India’s top decision-making body on defence and national security. It is chaired by the Prime Minister and includes the Ministers of Defence, Home Affairs, Finance and External Affairs. Major defence purchases above a set value need its approval.

For aspirants

Big defence approvals like this are common topics in the current affairs sections of the NDA, CDS and AFCAT exams, and in SSB lecturettes and group discussions. Aspirants should note the number of ships, the shipyards involved, the classes they will replace, and the role of the CCS and the DAC in the approval process.