Report: India Wants to Ramp Up its Warship Exports

A new P-17A class frigate, Mahendragiri, at launch at Mazagon Dock (Gov't of India)

India is reportedly working to expand warship exports as part of the ongoing push to revamp its shipbuilding industry. The Ministry of Defense (MOD) has already issued directives to the state-owned shipyards, instructing the facilities to build their capacities for export orders. According to a report by the defense news site Indian Defense Research Wing, the MOD’s directive covers expansion of docking and manufacturing infrastructure in the shipyards. In addition, the shipyards are expected to customize their blueprints for naval platforms in readiness for export orders.

The targeted public sector shipbuilders include Mazagon Dock, Garden Reach (GRSE), Goa Shipyard and Hindustan Shipyard. At a time India is investing heavily to transform its shipbuilding sector, it sees an opportunity in fulfilling the massive demand for warship exports. India has already mapped this opportunity under its "Security and Growth for All in the Region" (SAGAR) vision, which seeks to assert its role as a net security provider in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).

Under SAGAR, India has been expanding maritime cooperation with countries such as Sri Lanka, Maldives, Seychelles and Mauritius. In these markets, India has tested its capability to export smaller naval platforms. In 2014 for instance, GRSE delivered its first corvette class warship to Mauritius. Since 2015 onwards, India has also delivered fast attack craft to Seychelles and Sri Lanka. However, these exports have remained limited, with little revenue share to the Indian shipyards.

In addition, emerging regional naval powers in Southeast Asia - including the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam - are looking to expand their warship fleets. According to estimates, these countries require 20-30 frigates over the next decade, especially as they all try to counter Chinese expansion in the South China Sea. India has started to make inroads to these markets as well.

Back in 2023, India made a first-of-its-kind corvette donation to Vietnam, ramping up its defense ties in the South East Asia region. Moving forward, India wants to shift its focus in the region in supplying big-ticket naval platforms such as frigates and destroyers. India hopes to leverage on cost-competitiveness of its platforms, undercutting traditional defense suppliers such as Europe, where cost could exceed $800 million per warship.

But to sustain the competition, India has to achieve economies of scale in shipbuilding. While expansion of shipyards solves part of the problem, a lot of emphasis has to be on clearing inefficiencies in construction. Currently, India takes 5-7 years to deliver a warship compared to China’s 3-4 years. In this regard, MOD’s directive has mandated the public sector shipyards to adopt integrated ship construction systems. Partly, this will see simultaneous prefabrication of hull blocks, superstructures and internal systems before assembly.