GRSE has ship building facilities in Kolkata and a diesel engine plant in Ranchi.
It has a large computer-aided design (CAD) centre for ship modelling and design. There are four workshops for plate preparation and steel fabrication.
GRSE has a dry dock for the construction of ships with up to 26,000 tonnes deadweight (DWT). It has a building berth and two slipways for hull construction. It has a covered all-weather non-tidal wet basin for fitting-out medium and small ships and another fitting-out complex for ships with three berths alongside. In addition, it has two river jetties for berthing smaller vessels up to 60 metres (200 ft) in length. GRSE has engine assemble, test, repair, and overhaul facilities in Ranchi, which spreads across 62 acres of land.
GRSE and Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port, Kolkata (SMPK) have inked a long-term concession agreement for GRSE to operate 3 dry docks. Here, GRSE undertakes multiple dry dock repairs of ships up to 160 m length, 20 m beam, and 7 m draught. These docks are situated inside a wet basin, which allows for docking and undocking operations independent of river tidal requirements. The wet basin also has multiple berthing facilities for afloat maintenance and refit operations.
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On 1 July 2006, GRSE acquired the loss-making Rajabagan Dockyard (RBD) of the Central Inland Water Transport Corporation (CIWTC). RBD's facilities with its 600 metres (2,000 ft) waterfront helped alleviate some of GRSE's space constraints and increase its production capacity.
During 2011, the shipyard was undergoing a ₹530 crore (US$55 million) upgrade programme, which would be by March 2012. The second phase of the upgrade programme was scheduled to commence from June 2013.
On 7 October 2021, GRSE and SMPK jointly inaugurated the Khidderpore Dry Dock (KPDD) Unit.
On 30 January 2024, GRSE signed a Frame and Individual License Agreement with Rolls-Royce Solutions, Germany, to cooperate in the licensed production and localisation of the MTU IMO Tier II compliant Series 4000 Marine Engines for governmental ships. The agreement enabled GRSE to manufacture the engines in its Diesel Engine Plant in Ranchi. The engines can power warships of fast patrol vessel, interceptor boat and fast attack craft class ships of the Indian Navy and the Indian Coast Guard. It is already deployed on the Car Nicobar-class patrol vessel. The series of engines have power output range of 746–4,300 kW (1,000–5,766 hp). The agreement includes transfer of technology for engine assembly, painting, parts sourcing, and after-sales service for these engines. On 28 January 2023, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) had also been signed for the same purpose.
On the occasion of 80th Independence Day of India, in August 2026, GRSE renamed their three shipbuilding units and their design department in honour of iconic personalities from Bengal. This included the Main Works Unit, the Rajabagan Dockyard (RBD) Unit and the Fitting Out Jetty (FOJ) Unit being renamed as the Rabindranath Tagore Shipyard, the Rishi Bankim Shipyard and the Matangini Hazra Shipyard, respectively. Meanwhile, the Central Design Office (CDO) was also renamed as the Centre for Ship Design & Research.
Expansion
On 9 February 2026, GRSE signed an agreement with to form a consortium with Hindustan Shipyard to undertake joint large-scale shipbuilding programme.
On 14 July 2026, it was reported that GRSE is also reportedly planning to enter the container-manufacturing business. The company has also undertaken expansion project of its existing facilities. The current shipyard can construct 28 vessels annually which will be expanded to 32 vessels following the completion of the modernisation projects by December 2026. Further, the firm plans to expand two brownfield shipyards in West Bengal along with a greenfield shipyard each in West Bengal and Gujarat.
As for the project in Gujarat, GRSE will form a joint venture with Modest Infrastructure Ltd, a subsidiary of Dempo Shipbuilding & Engineering, to develop a ₹3,000 crore (US$310 million) integrated greenfield shipyard at Ratanpar in Bhavnagar district. The proposed facility, GRSE's first shipyard outside Kolkata, will be developed in phases and is designed to construct commercial vessels with up to 45,000 tonnes deadweight (DWT). The proposed shipyard will be developed on approximately 58 hectares (140 acres) of land, of which 40 acres (16.1 ha) will be owned by Modest Infrastructure, with a waterfront about 1.4 kilometres (0.87 mi) of along the Gulf of Cambay. The shipyard would be able to construct 1 ship of 45,000 tonnes deadweight (DWT), 3 ships of 20,000 tonnes deadweight (DWT) and six offshore support vessels or platform supply vessels per year. The project could also provide repair facilities for offshore rigs, offshore support vessels and platform supply vessels.
On 23 August, the Defence Minister Rajnath Singh virtually inaugurated the three shipbuilding infrastructure projects in West Bengal with a combined investment of around ₹2,670 crore (US$280 million). This included establishing a new greenfield shipyard at Raichak, South 24 Parganas; and expanding and upgrading two existing brownfield shipyards in Kidderpore of Kolkata and Shalimar of Howrah. GRSE signed a lease agreement with Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port, Kolkata (SMPK) to operate the existing yet unused shipyards in Khidirpur and Shalimar for 30 years while they acquired a 32 acres (13 ha) plot for the Raichak facility which has a 356-metre (1,168 ft) waterfront, a 96-metre (315 ft)-long jetty and a 8–10-metre (26–33 ft) draught. The Raichak facility will receive a dry dock, a slipway, a ship launching pad, each with a length of 200 metres (660 ft); two jetties with a length of 120 metres (390 ft) and 86 metres (282 ft) as well as facilities for block fabrication and consolidation, hull repair shops and stores and administrative offices. This over ₹2,500 crore (US$260 million) facility can construct warships with a length of up to 200 metres (660 ft) and commercial vessels of up to 60,000 tonnes deadweight (DWT) which lies in a category of Supramax class.
Further, the projects at the 4-acre (16,000 m2) Timber Pond facility of Shalimar with a 88-metre (289 ft) waterfront will include the restoration of a 200-metre (660 ft) dry dock, the construction of a 120-metre (390 ft) slipway, shoreline protection work, and the installation of a dry dock gate and gantry crane as well as establishing facilities for block fabrication, stores and workshops at a cost of ₹100 crore (US$10 million) for medium-sized shipbuilding and repairs. Meanwhile, the Damodar facility at the Kidderpore Docks (KPD), equipped with an old workshop and a 25-metre (82 ft) waterfront, will receive a ₹70 crore (US$7.3 million) upgrade project for medium-sized vessel repairs and construction of electric ferries and other small craft. The Damodar is adjacent to the three dry docks at KPD already operational with GRSE for ship repairs and refits.
On 21 September, the board of directors of GRSE cleared the investment of ₹2,986 crore (US$310 million) for the construction of Raichak shipyard.
