On 2 January 2015 the
Ministry of Defence (MOD) issued a
request for information (RFI) under Buy Indian and Make Indian category for six new missile corvettes by initiating the Next Generation Missile Vessels (NGMVs) programme. Vendors who chose to respond to the RFI must meet "minimum qualifying criteria" mainly, shipyard should have already built "vessel(s) of similar specifications". A
request for proposal (RfP) worth $2.2 billion was filed by the
Government of India to various Indian shipyards seeking for various warships including six missile boats. On 23 February 2021,
Cochin Shipyard (CSL) won the bid to construct 6 Next Generation Missile Vessels (NGMV) for a cost
₹10,000
crores. On 11 January 2023, the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) approved the Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for procurement of
BrahMos launchers and fire control systems for Next Generation Missile Vessels and
Shivalik-class frigates. On 30 March 2023, MoD signed the contract for acquisition of six NGMV with CSL at a cost of . The delivery of ships is scheduled to commence from March 2027. According to MoD, the construction of these ships will generate an employment of 45
lakh man-days over a period of nine years. On 15 September 2023,
Bharat Electronics announced that they have received an order worth from CSL to supply "state-of-the-art technology" including sensors and weapons equipment for the NGMV project. On 14 February 2024, CSL signed a contract with
Advanced Weapons and Equipment India Limited to acquire 12
AK-630 naval guns. The guns will be manufactured by the Gun & Shell Factory,
Cossipore in
Kolkata. On 29 March 2024, CSL signed another deal with
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited worth for in-house manufacturing six units of
LM2500 for NGMV, which are scheduled to be delivered between 2026 and 2029. On 16 December 2024, the steel cutting ceremony for the first ship of NGMV held at the Cochin Shipyard. Induction of the vessels is to start from 2027. On 8 April 2026,
Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace received a contract to supply 18 sets of large Kamewa
waterjets from the CSL. This was the former's single largest waterjet contract. == Design and description ==