Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Ltd. (GRSE) was founded in 1884 as a modest workshop to maintain the vessels of the River Steam Navigation Company. As Garden Reach Workshops (GRW) Limited, the company began its new chapter in 1934 after being registered under the Indian Companies Act, 1913. During the Second World War, more than 4000 warships were repaired here as part of this company’s active participation. The Indian government took control of the Company in 1960. The Seaward Defence Boat (SDB) INS Ajay was built by GRSE in 1961, making it the first shipyard in independent India to construct a warship for the Indian Navy. 

Additionally, GRSE produced the SCG PS Zoroaster FPV for the Seychelles government, the CGS Barracuda, the first-ever Indian export warship, and the MV MA Lisha, an ocean-going cargo and passenger ferry, for the Cooperative Republic of Guyana. In 2006, the shipyard received recognition as a Miniratna Category I Company. For the Indian Navy, Indian Coast Guard, Government of Mauritius, and Seychelles Coast Guard, GRSE has constructed more than 785 platforms during the past six decades, including more than 100 warships — the highest warships ever constructed and delivered by an Indian shipyard.