NEW DELHI, April 30 (Xinhua) -- India's defense ministry has given a contract to build eight anti-submarine warfare shallow water crafts for Indian navy to state-owned Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Limited (GRSE), officials said Monday.

"The contract worth INR 6,311.32 crore (903 million U. S. dollars) was signed today by joint secretary and acquisition manager (Maritime Systems) Ravi Kant on behalf of Ministry of Defence and S S Dogra, Director (Finance), on behalf of GRSE, in New Delhi," a statement issued by defense ministry said.

According to officials, request for proposal (RFP) was issued by Indian Navy to Defence Public Sector Undertaking (DPSU) Shipyards and Indian private shipyards in 2014, and GRSE emerged as a successful bidder for design, construction and supply of the eight anti-submarine warfare shallow water crafts.

"The first ship is to be delivered within 42 months from contract signing date and subsequent ships delivery schedule will be two ships per year," the defense ministry statement said. "The project completion time is 84 months from today."