The Indian Navy (IN) today announced that it has almost finalized a defence deal for the purchase of 7 stealth frigates, expected to cost as much as $9 billion (₹ 500 billion) in total.

The navy announced that the frigates will be jointly built by the Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL, based in the state of Maharashtra) and the Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Ltd (GRSE, based in the eastern state of West Bengal). The deal, which is one of the biggest in the history of the IN, will be a major boost for the local shipyards, which have been badly affected by the international competition. The naval sources informed media that out of the seven frigates, MDL will be manufacturing four units, while the GRSE will construct the remaining three.

According to the officials, the deal has already received approval from the Ministry of Defence (MoD). The final approval from the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) is pending as of now, and the deal will move forward after the nod from the CCS, which is expected within the next few days.

Earlier, the Indian Navy had inducted three Shivalik class frigates under the Project-17. The latest deal is supposed to be a continuation of the P-17. All the three Project 17 class frigates – INS Shivalik, INS Satpura and the INS Sahyadri were built by the MDL. The Shivalik class vessels were proposed as a supplement for the Russian made Talwar class frigates. A total of four Talwar class vessels currently serve with the IN. Two more (INS Tarkash and INS Trikand) are expected to be inducted soon.

Naval officials claimed that the new Project 17A class frigates will be faster, longer and technologically advanced, when compared with the Shivalik class frigates. They refused to reveal the exact specifications of the new class. Earlier, there were reports that the defence Industry giants Lockheed Martin and Hyundai Heavy Industries had expressed their interest in the Project 17A. They withdrew when the defence officials made it clear that the preference will be given to the local ship builders.