Reliance Defence and Engineering Ltd (RDEL) has signed a Rs 916 crore contract with the Defence Ministry for the design and construction of 14 fast patrol vessels for the Indian Coast Guard.

RDEL is a wholly-owned arm of Reliance Infrastructure Ltd (RInfra).

RDEL emerged the winner through a competitive bidding process undertaken by the Ministry of Defence with participation from almost all the private sector and public sector shipyards, namely, L&T, Cochin Shipyard Ltd, Goa Shipyard Ltd and Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Ltd (GRSE), the company said in a statement.

This is the first time a private sector shipyard has been awarded a contract to design and build such class of ships for the Indian armed forces. RDEL will be developing the design in-house, it said.

Fast Patrol Vessels (FPVs) are medium-range, high-speed vessels; they are primarily utilised for patrol within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), coastal patrol, anti-smuggling, anti-piracy, search and rescue operations. They also support frontline warships in their hour of need.

Reliance Shipyard, with the largest dry-dock in the country, uses the block-construction technique through a unique ‘modular construction technology’ for building large ships for both commercial usage and the Navy, the statement said.