INDUSTRY

Defence Ministry inks pacts with shipyards to buy offshore & missile vessels

In line with the government’s vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat, the Ministry of Defence on Thursday signed contracts with Indian shipyards for acquisition of 11 next-generation offshore patrol vessels and six next-generation missile vessels for nearly Rs 19,600 crore, officials said. 

Of the 11 ships, seven would be indigenously designed, developed and manufactured by Goa Shipyard (GSL) and four by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE), Kolkata, the ministry said in a statement. 

The delivery of the ships was scheduled to commence from September 2026, it said. 

“In a huge boost to achieve aatmanirbharta (self-reliance) in defence, Ministry of Defence, on March 30, 2023, signed contracts with Indian shipyards for acquisition of 11 next-generation offshore patrol vessels and six next-generation missile vessels at an overall cost of approximately Rs 19,600 crore,” the statement said. 

The contract for acquisition of 11 next-generation offshore patrol vessels under the Buy (Indian-IDDM) category was signed with GSL and GRSE at a total cost of Rs 9,781 crore, it added. 

The acquisition of these ships would enable the Navy to maintain its combat capability and meet various operational requirements, such as anti-piracy, counter-infiltration, anti-poaching, anti-trafficking, non-combatant evacuation operations, search and rescue and protection of offshore assets, the statement said. 

The construction of these ships is set to generate an employment of 110 lakh man-days over a period of seven-and-a-half years, according to the statement. 

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