Aatmanirbhar Bharat: Govt inks Rs 425 crore contract for 1.25 MW marine gas turbine generators
New Delhi, June 19
The Ministry of Defence on Friday signed a contract with Bharat Forge Limited, Pune for the acquisition of 12 sets of 1.25 MW Marine Gas Turbine Generators, with minimum 60 per cent indigenous content, for the Indian Navy at a total cost of around Rs 425 crore.
The contract was inked under Buy (Indian) category in the presence of Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh. The project reinforces the Government's commitment to Aatmanirbhar Bharat and Make-in-India by creating a robust domestic manufacturing ecosystem.
"It would enhance maritime self-reliance in critical strategic technologies and bolster Indian Navy's operational readiness through indigenous production & end-to-end life-cycle support," the Ministry of Defence said.
"The contract marks a significant step towards establishing indigenous capability to manufacture marine gas turbine generators," the ministry added.
The generator serves as a backbone of modern Naval combatants for power generation applications that power critical combat systems and advanced weapon & sensors.
This came at a time when government is pushing domestic production of defence equipment to boost Make in India.
Earlier this week, the Centre announced that the country's annual defence production surged to an all-time high of Rs 1.78 lakh crore in the last financial year (FY26).
This represents a 15.6 per cent growth over the previous fiscal's (FY25) output of Rs 1.54 lakh crore, and a staggering 110 per cent increase since FY 2020-21 when the figure was Rs 84,643 crore.
The indigenous defence production has increased almost four times from Rs 43,746 crore in FY 2013-14, according to Defence Ministry.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh credited the inspiring leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for taking India's defence production to newer heights.
In a post on X on June 17, the minister lauded the collective efforts of the Department of Defence Production and public and private sectors for achieving the landmark.
— IANS
Reader Comments
Good step, but 60% indigenous content is still not enough. Why can't we aim for 100%? The technology might be complex but we need to push our PSUs and private players harder. Also, Rs 425 crore seems steep for 12 generators—hope there's no cost padding.
Impressive to see India's defence production crossing ₹1.78 lakh crore. 📈 These marine gas turbine generators are critical for naval combatants. With Bharat Forge leading, it shows Indian manufacturing capability. More such orders will create jobs and technology spill-overs.
I remember the days when we used to import almost everything for defence. Today, seeing a private company like Bharat Forge making marine gas turbine generators makes me proud. Aatmanirbhar Bharat is not just a slogan, it's becoming reality 💪
Great development. The end-to-end life-cycle support aspect is crucial—often overlooked but essential for operational readiness. With 60% indigenous content, we're building strategic autonomy. This will also help in technology development for civilian applications like power generation.
I'm a bit skeptical. Rs 425 crore for 12 generators works out to ~₹35 crore per unit. For 1.25 MW marine generators, that's quite high even with R&D costs. We need transparency in pricing. Also, what about maintenance spares? Hope this isn't just a headline-grabber.
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