Hindustan Shipyard Limited examining JVs

The Chairman and Managing Director of Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL), Rear Admiral (Retd.) N.K. Mishra has stated that the company was in the process of looking at joint venture possibilities as it could help accelerate the production capabilities to meet the growing needs of both the domestic and global markets.

Talking to SP’s ShowNews at Defexpo India 2012, Rear Admiral Mishra said the focus now was to clear the backlog of merchant vessels by 2013 and gear itself up to take up the orders of the Indian Navy and the Indian Coast Guard. It has 13 inshore patrol vessels (IPVs) for the Coast Guard and 20 minor crafts for the Indian Navy. HSL has adequate substantial infrastructure for construction of surface ships and submarines.

HSL, he said, had been nominated for the construction of two amphibious warfare ships, called Landing Platform Docks (LPDs). The company was earmarking a programme for LPDs and the modernisation plan for which it had got an allocation of 457 crore that would come handy.

He said, HSL could easily upgrade the infrastructure for submarine construction, as HSL is already doing the refits for INS Sindhukirti, a Sindhughosh class diesel-electric submarine. From refit to construction of submarines, he said, would require workshops and the same was being augmented. ‘The augmentation process would take about a year or so.”