New Delhi: With the government’s clearance, Visakhapatnam based Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL) will manufacture five of the 45,000-tonne warships for the Indian Navy. This will be the largest ship of its class being built at the defence ministry-owned yard.

The deal valued at Rs 20,000 crore to manufacture fleet support vessels (FSVs) are urgently required by the Indian Navy. The Indian FSV project was initially given a go-ahead in 2016 after the Indian Navy projected a requirement for ships that could carry fuel and other supplies for warships at sea.

The order will give boost to HSL, which has been struggling to get orders from the government in the past.  The yard has delivered a missile tracking vessel and has carried out refit and upgrades of Kilo class submarines.

The ships are needed to support warships on long range patrol and can carry a variety of equipment, such as fuel, ammunition and food supplies. They will be able to support ships of all classes, including the two Indian aircraft carriers. The navy has a variety of new ships that are being planned, including next generation missile vessels and counter mine vessels. Three additional Scorpene class submarines are also expected to be ordered shortly.