Small Private Shipyards In India To Get Navy Ship Building Contracts

Indian Navy is likely to award contracts to small and private shipyards to build vessels for defense forces.  

The Navy is working with the shipping ministry on a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Navy and Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL). CSL will be supervising the work of small shipyards, The Times Of India reported today.

Recently shipping minister Nitin Gadkari and defence minister Manohar Parrikar discussed the matter. Presently, CSL is building India's first indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant weighing 40,000 tonnes.

Outfitting was underway and it would be ready in the next few years, an official said. “Indian shipyards don't need any foreign technology to build ships. They are capable of doing so," said the official.

The move to give works to Indian shipyards is seen as creating work opportunities for small shipyards, which are going through a bad patch.

"Shipyards across the world are having tough times. Getting work will save jobs of many in this industry and our existing infrastructure can be utilized under the Make in India scheme, rather than giving these tasks to foreign shipyards," a senior executive of a major shipyard said.