GRSE Delivers Himgir; Their First P-17A Nilgiri class Frigate to the Indian Navy
Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) in Kolkata delivered its first Nilgiri-class frigate under Project-17 Alpha to the Indian Navy on July 31. Himgiri is the third Nilgiri-class frigate delivered to the Indian Navy but is the first of the class to be constructed by GRSE. The first vessel under P-17A, the INS Nilgiri, was commissioned by the Navy earlier this year, in January 2025. The second ship, Udaygiri, was delivered to the Indian Navy on July 1, 2025 and is expected to be commissioned in August 2025.
About the Nilgiri-class Frigate
Length: 149m
Beam: 17.8m
Draft: 5.15m
Displacement: 6,670T
Endurance: 5500nm
Strength of crew: 226
The Indian Ministry of Defence signed a contract with MDL and GRSE for seven frigates under Project-17A in February 2015, with four built by MDL and three built by GRSE. P-17A is a follow-up to the Project-17 Shivalik class frigate of the Indian Navy with improvements in structural and IR stealth, along with better accommodation, range and improved sensors and weapon suite. The ship is indigenously designed by the Navy’s in-house Warship Design Bureau and has an indigenous content of 75%.
It features a 360° air defence coverage with its four-panel S-band array and 32 VLS-launched Medium Range Surface to Air Missile. A module of UVLM featuring eight cells for BrahMos and support for Long Range Land Attack Cruise Missile (LRLACM), which is under development. A 76mm naval gun with Leonardo DART guided ammunition and Radio Frequency Guidance System, two 30mm CIWS and 12.7mm guns. These ships are configured with Combined Diesel or Gas (CODOG) propulsion plants, comprising a diesel engine and gas turbine, that drive a Controllable Pitch Propeller (CPP) on each shaft, and a state-of-the-art Integrated Platform Management System (IPMS).
The Defence Acquisition Council on September 3, 2024, accorded Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for the procurement of seven frigates under the Project-17 Bravo, a follow-up to the P-17A Nilgiri class of frigate. The project will see a similar split of 3:4 hulls as P-17A and is to be made between 2028 and 2035 at a project cost of 70,000 crore ($8.33 billion). The shipyards expect the tender to be released within the financial year 2025-26.