KOCHI: One of the iconic PSUs from the state, the Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL) is betting big on expansion plans focussing on shipbuilding and repair, which includes ventures outside Kerala - for the first time in its history - to further its prospects in the maritime industry.
In the shipbuilding front, laying a wager on inland waterways, CSL has set up a company for building vessels for the project, called the Hoogly-Cochin Shipyard Ltd. “We feel inland waterways transport holds great potential and the Centre and Inland Waterway Authority of India are putting a significant impetus on developing it,” said Madhu S Nair, CSL CMD.
He said the site selected is strategic as Hoogly is connected to river Ganga, a Jal Marg Vikas project, which is $ 850-million World Bank-funded project which aims at the development of a waterway from Haldia in West Bengal to Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh. “Moreover, as Hoogly connects to river Brahmaputra, it opens up access to the north-eastern states and Bangladesh. There is a proposal to start the Calcutta-Dhaka waterway network,” said Nair.
“We are holding a 74 per cent stake in the company and the rest by a Central Government company. We have taken land and two facilities on lease from this firm called Hooghly Dock and Port Engineers Ltd at Nazir Kunj and Salkia,” said Nair. At Nazirganj, for the construction of vessels for inland waterways, HCSL will be setting up a new shipyard with an investment of `150 crores and expects the facility to be operational in 18 months.
T. The company is already in the process building 10 vessels for the project at their Kochi facility.
On the ship repair front, CSL has leased out, for 30-years, the largest dry dock and couple berths in the Indira Basin of the Mumbai Port. “The annual investment will exceed `20 crore for this facility and this dock will be exclusively used for maintenance of various vessels,” said Nair.
CSL pact with Kolkata port
He said on similar lines, the PSU has entered into an agreement with Kolkata Port, CSL is taking over two dry docks at the Netaji Subash Docks and expect the ship repair facility to be functional early-2019. “There is a vibrant ecosystem for the industry already existent in Mumbai for possible orders. But, with Calcutta, we will have to build up the ecosystem and CSL is confident of achieving that,” said Nair.
Port Blair facility
CSL will also take over the Marine Dockyard facility at Port Blair, which is owned by the Andaman & Nicobar administration. “All three projects will be manned by CSL teams and cater to promoting the vision of Centre in promoting ship repair facilities in the country,” said Nair.
Third dry dock in Kochi
In Kochi, CSL is investing `1,800 crore in developing its third dry dock and which is expected to finish in 2021, enabling it to manufacture larger aircraft carriers, LNG vessels, jack-up rigs, drill ships and dredgers. The ongoing work for the `970-crore International Ship Repair Facility at Wellington Island enables CSL to repair up to 85 vessels, almost doubling the number of ships that can be serviced every year.