By NC Bipindra

New Delhi: Ten years after it suffered damage during a docking accident in Mumbai, India has decided to put its guided missile frigate, INS Betwa, through a normal refit and re-powering, and has signed an approximately ₹500-Crore contract with Cochin Shipyard Limited for the purpose in the presence of Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh in New Delhi. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on November 11, 2026 (Wednesday) that it would spend ₹498.58 crore on INS Betwa,

Under the contract, INS Betwa, a Brahmaputra-class frigate of the Indian Navy, will undergo a major propulsion system transformation, involving the replacement of its existing steam-based propulsion system with a diesel-engine-based propulsion system. The refit will also include the upgradation of its combat capabilities through the installation of a modernised weapon suite, thereby enhancing the ship’s operational effectiveness, the MoD statement said.

“This project will further strengthen indigenous capabilities in the ship repair and maintenance ecosystem, particularly in undertaking complex propulsion system transformation and modernisation of naval platforms. The project is expected to involve more than 50 MSMEs and generate significant employment opportunities across the Indian shipbuilding and ancillary industries,” it said.

The MoD expressed the hope that the INS Betwa refit and re-powering project would “provide a major impetus” to the Indian government’s vision of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat and ‘Make in India’, while reinforcing the country’s indigenous naval ship repair and maintenance capabilities.

INS Betwa’s Naval Dockyard Accident

On December 6, 2016, INS Betwa India tipped over and crashed to its side while undocking in Mumbai, in what the navy described as an “unprecedented and sad” incident. Two sailors died while 14 others were rescued with minor injuries after the accident. The 3,850-ton ship lay on its side at the naval dockyard after the unexpected accident, which occurred while it was docked in the Mumbai Naval Dockyard for underwater repairs. The drydocked ship was being returned to the water, a process that involved tipping it, when the system holding it in place in the dry dock snapped and the entire ship fell sideways, damaging its main mast.

The Navy took help from a foreign firm, US-based Resolve Marine Engineering, in February 2017 to get the massive 126-metre-long vessel, commissioned into the Navy in 2004, back up and carried out extensive repairs on it to make it operational again. The INS Betwa served under the Western Naval Command headquartered at Mumbai. It is armed with Uran anti-ship missiles, Barak 1 surface-to-air missiles and torpedoes.

In a previous accident in January 2014, the warship hit an unidentified object underwater and cracked the sonar dome, and also saw saltwater ingress into sensitive equipment. The current refit and re-powering of INS Betwa would extend its service life and improve its combat prowess.

NOTE: Follow Defence.Capital on Arattai.
NOTE: Follow Defence.Capital on Telegram.
NOTE: Follow Defence.Capital on WhatsApp.