KOCHI: Kerala is becoming a boat manufacturing hub, especially in the small vessel category, as evidenced by the number of boatyards operating in the state. As per the statistics from the Kerala Maritime Board (KMB), the authority has issued accreditations to around 80 to 85 boatyards in Kerala, most of them concentrated in Alappuzha, Kottayam and Ernakulam. And many of these boatyards boast of orders not only from other states but also countries like Canada and Israel.
Joy Jacob, the CEO of Matha Marines located at Nettoor, says Kerala’s boat-building industry has shown significant improvement. “We are experiencing steady demand from private individuals and successfully supplying boats to meet their needs,” Jacob tells TNIE.
According to him, their boats are in high demand, not only within India but also globally. “We have been successfully supplying our boats to various states. We have also been receiving inquiries from international clients. We are excited about the prospect of expanding our exports and making our presence felt in the global market,” he says.
Aiswarya Joseph of Aismar Boat Builders, which has a legacy tracing back to the Portuguese era, says the same. She says orders from other state governments are pouring in, especially those from their tourism department and water transport authorities.
“There are not as many orders from within Kerala,” she says. For both Matha Marines and Aismar Boat Builders, a big chunk of their revenue comes from orders received from other states and exports.
Aiswarya says the entry of new players in the sector is a pointer towards the market’s health. She says theirs was the first boatyard to build a fibreglass houseboat in India, in 2002.
“We also built Kerala’s first Indian Register of Shipping (IRS) approved seagoing passenger fibreglass catamaran, besides building and delivering India’s first IRS passenger fibreglass restaurant boat. It was made for a private party in Dubai. The vessel was taken in a single voyage to its operational location,” says Aiswarya. The catamaran was built for `3.5 crore. Aismar has also built boats for the Indian Navy.
Aiswarya says they have also built many boats for other state tourism departments, including Maharashtra, Assam and Kerala. As for the turnover, she says, “It depends on the nature of the contract. Since the product has huge expense machinery, we sometimes do labour contract. So that the client need not pay tax twice,” says the young boat builder, adding that generally, the revenue ranges from `50 lakh to `1 crore per year.
Another facet highlighted by Sandith Thandasherry, founder and CEO of Navalt Group, is that the market in the sector is limited to smaller boats.
“However, the solar-powered boat sector is emerging at a fast pace. We recently had five international orders of which we have already delivered one placed by Canada. More than 44 of our boats are operational in around eight Indian states. Navalt has received orders from Israel for two 60-seater solar boats,” Sandith says, adding the ‘urus’ (a type of dhow) from Kerala also have good market in the Middle East.
But there are problems too, says Joy. “Despite our growth, we are facing challenges in accessing adequate financial support from banks. The current banking facilities fall short of our expectations. To boost the industry’s potential, increased government support is needed for small-scale boat-building enterprises like ours.
Enhanced government backing would enable us to expand operations, generate more jobs and contribute to the state’s economic growth,” he says. Aiswarya says tourism, especially the one tapping our inland waterways, needs to be given a big push. “Unlike other states, we are lagging in this direction. Once that happens, domestic market will also get a big push,” she says.