Indian Navy signs contract for 3 indigenously built 200-tonne barges with MSME shipyard: All you need to know

The Indian Navy recently signed a contract for the construction and delivery of three 200-tonne bottom-opening non-propelled barges.

As per the terms of the contract signed on January 16 with M/s Suryadipta Projects Private Limited, a Thane-based MSME shipyard, the barges will be built indigenously under the Classification Rules of the Indian Register of Shipping (IRS).

The Indian Navy said on Monday that the order for the three barges was a major step in boosting the growth of MSME shipyards in the country, in line with the Maritime India Vision 2030.

The term 'barges' typically refers to 'hopper barges', which are a type of vessel with large top-opening or bottom-opening cargo holds (hoppers) that can be used to easily load and unload materials.

These vessels are unpowered (non-propelled)—meaning they need to be pulled using tugboats—and are designed to carry things like sand, gravel, coal, and dredged materials in bulk.

This comes months after the Indian Navy inducted LSAM 25, its 11th Ammunition Cum Torpedo Cum Missile (ACTCM) Barge, back in October 2025.

LSAM 25 was the last in an eleven-barge contract signed in 2021 with M/s Suryadipta Projects Private Limited, which developed them indigenously under the IRS.

"These barges facilitate transportation, embarkation & disembarkation of ammunition to Indian Navy platforms, alongside jetties and at anchorage," the Indian Navy had said in an X post.

Back in March, the defence ministry had also said that in addition to these ACTCM barges, the Thane-based MSME shipyard had also been awarded a contract for the construction and delivery of four sullage barges for the Indian Navy.