Mumbai, Aug. 28 -- Defence Minister Rajnath Singh launched five brownfield expansion projects in West Bengal remotely, saying the initiatives total Rs 35 billion (Rs 35 bn). He predicted India may soon become a global shipbuilding hub and urged emphasis on cost reduction, quality and timely delivery.
Projects include three Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers facilities in Kolkata, Howrah and Raichak and the Yantra India Metal and Steel Factory in Ishapore to strengthen shipbuilding, repair and metallurgical capabilities. Ceremonies occurred at Kidderpore, Shalimar, Raichak and Ishapore and the Navratna defence PSU has signed leases with Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port to develop three Hooghly River sites. Yantra India is leading two projects totalling more than Rs 7.5 billion (Rs 7.5 bn) at Ishapore.
The largest project is a 32-acre riverside facility at Raichak planned as a shipbuilding hub with investment exceeding Rs 25 billion (Rs 25 bn). It includes a 356-metre waterfront, a 96-metre jetty, an eight-to-ten metre draught, a 200-metre dry dock and block fabrication units to build warships up to 200 metres and commercial vessels to 60,000 DWT. Smaller allocations include Rs 1 billion for a four-acre Timber Pond at Shalimar and about Rs 700 million for Kidderpore upgrades to support medium repairs and electric ferry production.
Yantra India will install a 3,000-ton forging press at a cost of Rs 2.7759 billion (Rs 2.7759 bn) to replace an older unit for gun barrels and heavy forgings, and this is expected to reduce downtime and yield annual savings of Rs 255.8 million. The second project is a radial forging plant at an outlay of Rs 4.7384 billion (Rs 4.7384 bn) with an execution timeline of 30 months, expanding capacity for super alloy forgings and other critical hardware. The minister underlined the need for self-reliant defence manufacturing to deliver quality products at competitive prices, saying higher volumes could offset lower margins.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Construction World.