Kolkata, June 19 (IANS) Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) Ltd has been declared a Navratna by the Government of India, the Department of Public Enterprises announced in a post on Friday.

The shipyard, which is a Defence Public Sector Undertaking (DPSU), has built and delivered a record 118 warships to the Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard over the last 65 years.

As many as 80 have gone to the Navy. The latest among these are the INS Dunagiri, INS Sanshodhak and INS Agray, which were delivered together on March 30, 2026. The three warships will be commissioned into the Navy by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday, June 21, in Kolkata.

The Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) had cleared the proposal to grant Navratna status to GRSE in February this year. It had then been placed before an apex committee for final approval.

Navratna status allows central enterprises to make larger investments without prior government approval, enhancing their ability to compete, form joint ventures, and expand operations more swiftly. This elevation has come at the right time with GRSE going in for expansion.

The shipyard can now build 28 ships of various classes concurrently. It wants to take this figure up to 32 over the next few years. The shipyard has also made a foray into the global shipbuilding market and is now building 12 multi-purpose vessels for a German company.

GRSE has also made strides in green shipbuilding, having delivered a zero-emission, electric ferry to the Government of West Bengal. This is the largest such vessel to be operating in India.

GRSE is now building 13 hybrid diesel-electric ferries for the Government of West Bengal.

The shipyard was declared a DPSU in 1960, and barely a year later, it delivered INS Ajay to the Navy. This was the country’s first indigenous warship.

Currently, GRSE is building nine warships, including INS Vindhyagiri, the last in a series of advanced, guided missile frigates it was ordered to build for the Navy.

Apart from the warships, the shipyard is building 30 other platforms, including four research vessels.

–IANS

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