Three lead ships were built by Korea Tacoma, now part of Hanjin Group.

Vessels of the Sukanya class are named after notable women from Indian epics.

The Sukanya class have large hulls, although they are lightly armed since they are utilized primarily for offshore patrol of India's exclusive economic zone.

Two vessels of the class, Subhadra and Suvarna have been used as test beds for installation of the Dhanush ship-based ballistic missile launch system.

This includes the stabilization platform for enabling the ships to launch the missiles in stormy conditions.