Following the news that India’s Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Ltd (GRSE) launched two indigenous warships and laid the keel for the third warship on 13 June 2023:

Harshavardhan Dabbiru, Defense Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers his view:

“Hitting multiple milestones on the same day with the launch of the fourth GRSE-class survey vessel and the third Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft (ASWSWC) as well as laying the keel for the 7th ASWSWC vessel highlights GRSE’s capabilities in indigenous naval shipbuilding and India’s evolution as a defense manufacturing hub worldwide.

“The Indian naval vessel market is witnessing steady growth. According to GlobalData’s estimates, India is likely to spend $35.3 billion on procuring various types of naval vessels and surface combatants over 2023–2033. As a result, the naval vessels and surface combatants market in India is expected to register a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.4% during the forecast period. The push towards indigenous shipbuilding will ensure that a large portion of this revenue goes to the local players in the country.

“India’s pursuit of indigenous naval shipbuilding capabilities is part of the country’s strategic objective of attaining self-sufficiency in defense procurements for its armed forces. Over the years, the country has reduced its reliance on imports while encouraging domestic innovation and skill development. The recent accomplishments of the GRSE also showcase the capabilities of the domestic supply chain entities in delivering the complex sub-systems that go into these advanced naval platforms.

“Given India’s extensive coastline and vast maritime territory, it is critical for the country to have a strong and technologically advanced navy, capable of protecting its interests and averting adversarial threats. Particularly at a time when China is increasing naval cooperation with Pakistan to increase its presence in the Indian Ocean region, it is imperative that India’s policymakers want its navy to possess the capabilities to monitor the activities of the surface and sub-surface fleets of these two countries.”