• The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) to construct 27 double lane modular bridges in border areas of the country.

• The two-year contract worth around Rs 60 crore was inked between the two organisations in New Delhi. The bridges will be for northern and north-eastern border areas.

• Under the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, the BRO had successfully tested the indigenous 140-feet-long double-lane modular bridge that was supplied by the GRSE. This bridge was dedicated to the country by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on December 28, 2021. The bridge was constructed on Flag Hill-Dokala Road in Sikkim at an altitude of 11,000 feet.

Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Limited (GRSE)

• GRSE, a Miniratna Category-I Company, is under the administrative control of ministry of defence.

• The genesis of GRSE dates back to 1884 when it started its journey as a small factory on the Eastern Bank of river Hooghly.

• In 1934, the company was registered under the Indian Companies Act, 1913 and started its new journey as Garden Reach Workshops (GRW) Limited.

• It was taken over by the government on April 19, 1960.

• With diversification in engineering products the name was changed to Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Limited (GRSE) on January 1, 1977.

• The first warship of Independent India, INS Ajay, was delivered to the Indian Navy in 1961. GRSE has delivered 107 warships to the Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard.

• GRSE has three separate facilities for shipbuilding, all of which are located in close vicinity of each other in Kolkata. The ships are built at the Main Works Unit and the Rajabagan Dockyard.

• GRSE’s shipbuilding division is engaged in the construction of warships/vessels for clients mainly in the defence sector — Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard — and interceptor boats for MHA and state governments towards coastal security.

• GRSE developed successfully an array of world-class platforms including Frigates, Missile Corvettes, Survey Vessels, Marine Acoustic Research Ship, Anti-Submarine Warfare Corvettes, Landing Ship Tanks (Large), Fleet Tanker, Water-Jet Fast Attack Crafts, the Landing Craft Utility and also the First Export Warship, an Offshore Patrol Vessel to Mauritius.

• It is one of the most diversified nationalised establishments in the country that has played a very important role in the defence preparedness of India.

• GRSE is the only defence shipyard to have diversified into engineering business with a product profile of pre-fabricated steel bridges, various deck machinery items & assembly/ testing/ overhauling of marine diesel engines.

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