‘Nation is proud of you’: West Bengal Guv to GRSE on laying keels of two NGOPVS

Kolkata: West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose laid the keels of two Next Generation Offshore (or Ocean-going) Patrol Vessels being built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) Ltd, in Kolkata on Tuesday.

In his address, the Governor hailed GRSE’s capabilities in building modern, state-of-the-art warships.

“The Nation is proud of you. I can assure you that all 140 crore people of this country love you and stand by you. Thanks to efforts by shipbuilders like GRSE, India now matches the capabilities of companies involved in shipbuilding in countries like China, South Korea and Japan. India has the capability. India is powerful. We need to assert that we are capable. We need to assert that we are powerful,” the Governor said.

GRSE is building four NGOPVs for the Indian Navy. According to chairman and managing director Cmde P R Hari, IN (Retd), though the keels of the first two vessels were ceremoniously laid during the day, work has already begun on all four.

“We are presently working on 43 platforms, including 17 warships for the Indian Navy. These 17 warships include the four NGOPVs. We are also handling eight export orders. These include a warship and two other platforms for Bangladesh. To date, we have delivered 72 warships to the Indian Navy and 36 to the Indian Coast Guard,” Cmde Hari informed the gathering of senior officers of the Indian Navy, Indian Army, Indian Air Force, Indian Coast Guard and classification societies.

In the past, GRSE has built and delivered several Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) to the Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard. The shipyard also built the OPV CGS Barracuda, the first warship exported by India to Mauritius in 2014. GRSE bagged the Defence Minister’s Award of Excellence for its in-house Design Effort for that warship.

The NGOPVs will be much larger warships than the OPVs built earlier and have greater endurance and firepower. These platforms will be about 113 metres long and 14.6 metres wide, with a displacement of 3,000 Tons.

The NGOPVs will achieve speeds of up to 23 knots. Their endurance will be 8,500 nautical miles at a speed of 14 knots. The crew will comprise 20 officers and over 100 sailors.

The contract for these four warships was signed by GRSE on 30 March 2023. The total value of the order is Rs 3,555.75 crore and the first vessel is to be delivered in 44 months after the date of contract signing. The others are to follow in six-month intervals. By laying the keels of the first two NGOPVs together, GRSE hopes to deliver them at the same time.

The NGOPV Project is expected to generate 82.4 lakh manhours and benefit many of the 900-odd MSMEs associated with GRSE.

The NGOPVs will play a variety of roles. With a draught requirement of only 4 metres, they would be able to operate in coastal waters, protecting offshore assets, carrying out maritime interdiction, as well as visit, board, search and seizure (VBSS) operations.

They will also be part of presence-cum-surveillance missions and mine warfare while having the capability to support special operations.

These warships will also participate in ‘Out of Area’ Contingency Operations, non-combatant evacuation, convoy operations, anti-piracy missions and counter-infiltration operations.

They will take on poachers and traffickers, and participate in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief as well as search and rescue missions.

They will also be able to operate as hospital and COMINT ships apart from providing fleet maintenance support.