GRSE commemorates its elevation to Navratna status with a special philatelic release

Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Ltd (GRSE) marked the milestone of being granted Navratna status by the Department of Public Enterprises, Ministry of Finance, with the release of a Special Cover featuring Cancellation and My Stamp on Friday, 17 July. The cover was released by Ashok Kumar, Chief Postmaster General, West Bengal Circle, in the presence of senior officials from GRSE and India Post.

The event followed GRSE’s tradition of inclusive participation across employee levels. Bikash Das, Security Havilder (SK) (GR.-III), the shipyard’s longest-serving employee, and Rup Pratim Ghatak, Assistant Manager, CDO, the youngest officer at the yard, were invited to grace the ceremony.

The Navratna designation, conferred in June 2026, recognises GRSE’s sustained financial and operational performance and underscores the company’s strategic role in India’s defence shipbuilding ecosystem. Over the past five years GRSE has posted strong financial growth: Revenue from Operations increased from ₹1,754 crore in FY 2021–22 to ₹7,002 crore in FY 2025–26, while Profit After Tax rose from ₹190 crore to ₹748 crore in the same period.

A long-standing supporter of the government’s Atmanirbharta and Make in India initiatives, GRSE has delivered more than 800 marine platforms — including 118 warships — to the Indian Navy, Coast Guard and friendly foreign nations over 66 years, the highest warship delivery tally among Indian shipyards. GRSE delivered India’s first indigenous warship, INS Ajay, in 1961 and its first export warship, CGS Barracuda, to Mauritius.

In 2025–26 the shipyard delivered eight warships, three of which — the P17A Advanced Guided-missile Frigate INS Dunagiri, the large survey vessel INS Sanshodhak, and the Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft INS Agray — were commissioned into the Navy by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 21 June 2026.

GRSE currently has nine warships under construction, including four Next Generation Offshore Patrol Vessels, and is building 30 other platforms. Notable programmes include 12 Multi-Purpose Vessels for a German client under the Make in India and Make for the World initiative, and four research vessels for the Naval Physical Oceanographic Laboratory, the National Centre for Polar & Ocean Research, and the Geological Survey of India.

With Navratna status, GRSE gains greater autonomy to invest and expand capacity. The shipyard has already initiated brownfield and greenfield projects aimed at boosting production capability to take on larger naval and commercial shipbuilding assignments.