Reliance Defence wins Rs.916 cr contract from Defence Ministry

The Dollar Business Bureau 

Reliance Defence and Engineering Ltd (RDEL), a fully-owned subsidiary of Reliance Infrastructure Ltd (RInfra), has signed a contract worth Rs.916 crore with Ministry of Defence for designing and construction of 14 fast patrol vessels (FPV) for the Indian Coast Guard.

Ministry of Defence has undertaken a competitive bidding process, in which RDEL emerged a winner among participants of all public and private sector shipyards including L&T, Goa Shipyard Ltd, Cochin Shipyard Ltd, Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Ltd (GRSE), said a statement released by the company.

It is for the first time that a private player has been given a contract for designing and building such class vessels for India’s Armed Forces. RDEL will develop the design at its in-house facility, it said.

FPVs are mid-range, high speed ships, which are primarily used for patrol within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), coastal patrolling, anti-piracy, anti-smuggling, and search and rescue operations. These vessels also provide front line support to warships in the time of need.

Reliance Shipyard, with the country’s largest dry-dock, has effectively mastered the technique of block-construction through its exclusive 'modular construction technology' for constructing large ships for Navy as well as commercial usage, the statement said.

The shipyard, with cutting edge technology, processes and highly skilled manpower, is well-balanced to provide any class of ship within the best possible time-frame.