Hyderabad: Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL), a Navratna Defence PSU and one of India’s largest shipbuilders, will invest Rs 15,000 crore in Andhra’s Dugarajapatnam (Tirupati district) to develop a greenfield shipbuilding facility.
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) to that effect was signed by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, (Retd) Capt Jagmohan, Chairman and Managing Director, MDL and Praveen Adhithya, Managing Director, NSHIP-AP (National Shipbuilding and Heavy Industries Park, Andhra Pradesh). NSHIP-AP is an equal-entity joint venture created by the Andhra Pradesh government and the Visakhapatnam Port Authority.
Under the MoU, MDL envisages investing the amount over the next five to seven years, and is expected to generate direct and indirect employment for around 45,000 people in Andhra Pradesh. The project will also create large-scale employment and new opportunities in shipbuilding, marine engineering, manufacturing, logistics and other allied sectors.
Speaking on the development, CM Naidu said Andhra Pradesh is committed to being at the forefront of India’s ambition to become one of the world’s top five shipbuilding nations by 2047. He said the state will leverage its long coastline, strategic location and industrial ecosystem to drive growth in the maritime sector.
“India has set an ambitious vision of becoming one of the world’s top five shipbuilding nations by 2047. Andhra Pradesh is committed to being at the forefront of this journey by leveraging its long coastline, strategic location and industrial ecosystem,” the Chief Minister said.
He added that the Dugarajapatnam shipbuilding cluster, with MDL as the anchor shipyard, will position Andhra Pradesh as a major shipbuilding hub and attract investments and ancillary industries to the state.
The shipbuilding facility is part of a larger port and ship repair cluster envisaged by the Andhra government, and at least seven major firms have submitted technical bids to draft the comprehensive report for the project, a government release said. The project spans roughly 2,200 to 3,488 acres, and the total investment is estimated at Rs 29,253 crore to build a commercial shipbuilding hub, dry docks, and port infrastructure.
The shipbuilding cluster is being developed under the Centre’s Shipbuilding Development Scheme (SbDS), and hence will be developed by the Centre, the release said.
The proposed shipyard will have a design capacity of 1.2 million gross tonnage (GT) per annum, with scope for further expansion based on market requirements. It will build commercial vessels including tankers, bulk-carriers, container ships, LNG carriers and other large specialised vessels.
Capt Jagmohan (Retd) said, “Dugarajapatnam has the scale and maritime potential to develop a globally competitive shipyard. MDL aims to create a modern facility serving both domestic and international markets.”
The Andhra Pradesh Maritime Board will facilitate land, infrastructure, and statutory clearances required for the timely development of the project.
(Edited by Archishman Ganguly)