In a significant milestone for indigenous warship building, Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited delivered the advanced stealth frigate INS Mahendragiri to the Indian Navy on 30 April 2026 at its Mumbai facility. This marks the sixth ship of the Nilgiri-class (Project 17A) to join the fleet and the fourth built at MDSL. The Ministry of Defence said that the delivery marks a significant milestone in achieving self-reliance in warship design and construction.
INS Mahendragiri is a versatile multi-mission stealth frigate designed to tackle contemporary and future maritime challenges. Built under the oversight of the Warship Design Bureau (WDB) and the Warship Overseeing Team in Mumbai, the vessel represents a generational leap in indigenous naval design, with enhanced stealth features, superior firepower, advanced automation, and improved survivability. It incorporates an Integrated Construction philosophy, enabling delivery within tight timelines as part of the Navy’s push for self-reliance.
The frigate features a Combined Diesel or Gas propulsion system with diesel engines and gas turbines driving Controllable Pitch Propellers (CPP) on each shaft, coupled with a modern Integrated Platform Management System (IPMS) for efficient operations. Its potent weapon and sensor suite includes advanced systems for anti-surface, anti-air, and anti-submarine warfare, making it a formidable asset for blue-water operations.
With approximately 75 per cent indigenous content, the project has engaged over 200 Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and generated direct employment for around 4,000 personnel and indirect jobs for more than 10,000 others.
Notably, Mahendragiri was delivered just 17 months after the lead ship of the class, INS Nilgiri was delivered in December 2024, highlighting the accelerated pace of construction at MDSL. This rapid delivery schedule reflects the maturity of India’s warship-building ecosystem and the Navy’s unwavering commitment to Aatmanirbharta in both design and production.
The induction of INS Mahendragiri comes amid a remarkable surge in the Indian Navy’s fleet modernisation. In recent months, the Navy has commissioned and received several other Nilgiri-class frigates under Project 17A, which comprises seven ships, four of which were built at MDSL and three at Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers. These include the lead ship INS Nilgiri (MDSL) commissioned in January 2025, INS Udaygiri (MDSL), INS Himgiri (GRSE), INS Taragiri (MDSL), and INS Dunagiri (GRSE).
These stealth frigates, each displacing around 6,670 tonnes, are equipped with advanced systems such as BrahMos cruise missiles and MRSAM surface-to-air missiles, bolstering the Navy’s multi-domain capabilities in the Indian Ocean Region.
Beyond the Nilgiri-class, the Navy has inducted other critical assets in recent months, further strengthening its operational edge. These include INS Tamal (Project 1135.6 Talwar-class frigate), commissioned in July 2025 from Russia, the last foreign-built warship for the Navy, as well as INS Aridhaman, the third Arihant-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine (SSBN), commissioned alongside INS Taragiri in April 2026.
Additional platforms such as Visakhapatnam-class destroyers, Kalvari-class submarines including INS Vagsheer, shallow-water anti-submarine warfare Arnala-class corvettes, and survey vessels have also joined the fleet in recent times.
The Indian Navy is on track to commission a record 19 warships in 2026 alone, following 14 inductions in the previous year. This accelerated pace, averaging a warship every few weeks, signals a transformative phase in India’s maritime defence capabilities, driven almost entirely by domestic shipyards.
