Indian Navy’s Next Generation Offshore Patrol Vessel ‘Shruti’ Launched at GRSE Kolkata

India’s indigenous warship-building programme has achieved another important milestone with the launch of Yard 3037, Shruti, a Next Generation Offshore Patrol Vessel being constructed for the Indian Navy at Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Limited (GRSE), Kolkata.

The vessel was launched on August 11, 2026, by Mrs Manika Sadhu in the presence of Vice Admiral Sanjay Sadhu, Controller of Warship Production & Acquisition, along with senior representatives of the Indian Navy, Ministry of Defence and GRSE. The ceremony followed the naval traditions associated with the launch of a new warship and marked another stage in the vessel’s progression towards eventual induction into operational service.

Shruti forms part of the Indian Navy’s Next Generation Offshore Patrol Vessel programme, under which vessels are being constructed simultaneously at Goa Shipyard Limited in Goa and GRSE in Kolkata. The programme is intended to strengthen the Navy’s offshore patrol and maritime security capabilities while progressively replacing and supplementing existing Offshore Patrol Vessels and Naval Offshore Patrol Vessels.

Designed and built in India, the new generation vessels are intended to undertake a wide spectrum of missions across India’s maritime areas of interest. Their primary roles will include maritime surveillance, protection of offshore assets, search and rescue operations, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, and anti-piracy missions. Their endurance and patrol capabilities will allow the Navy to maintain a sustained presence across large areas of the Indian Ocean Region while freeing frontline combatants for more specialised operational tasks.

The vessel’s name, Shruti, draws upon India’s ancient civilisational heritage. In the Indian knowledge tradition, Shruti refers to the body of sacred knowledge regarded as divinely revealed and is closely associated with the four Vedas — Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda and Atharvaveda. The choice continues the Indian Navy’s practice of connecting modern warships with India’s historical, cultural and civilisational traditions.

This heritage is also reflected in the vessel’s crest, which depicts the Ursa Major constellation together with a red-and-white lighthouse. The imagery symbolically connects celestial navigation and maritime guidance, both of which have deep associations with seafaring traditions.

The NGOPV programme is also significant from the perspective of India’s defence industrial capabilities. By undertaking the design, construction, integration and outfitting of increasingly sophisticated naval platforms within the country, Indian shipyards are steadily expanding their ability to support the Navy’s long-term fleet modernisation requirements.

The launch of Shruti therefore represents more than the entry of another hull into the water. It reflects the growing maturity of India’s indigenous naval shipbuilding ecosystem and the Indian Navy’s continuing transition towards a fleet increasingly designed, built and supported within the country.

With GRSE and Goa Shipyard simultaneously executing the NGOPV programme, the project also demonstrates the emergence of multiple domestic shipyards capable of handling complex naval construction programmes. As the vessels move through outfitting, harbour trials and sea trials before commissioning, they are expected to become an important component of the Navy’s expanding maritime surveillance and security architecture.

The launch of Shruti is consequently another step towards the Indian Navy’s objective of becoming an increasingly self-reliant, technologically capable and predominantly indigenous maritime force, in line with the broader objectives of Aatmanirbhar Bharat and Make in India.

Source: PIB :https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2297905&reg=48&lang=1