The Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL) has said it is bullish on future order flows and is expected to sign contracts worth Rs 5,400 crore with the Navy for building eight Anti-submarine Warfare (ASW) Corvettes.
“Right now, we have a balanced work in aircraft vessels, two 500-seater passenger vessels and another two 1,200-seater passenger vessels. We are also building a sophisticated vessel for the DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation),” CSL chairman and managing director Madhu S Nair told ‘Express’ in a recent interview.
“As for future, we are expected to sign contracts worth Rs 5,400 crore for building eight ASW corvettes for the Navy. We have become L1 (lowest bidder) and there is a process to go through. We expect to sign the contracts soon. In ship repair, we expect to pick up orders worth Rs 600 crore on a yearly basis,” he said.This would be in addition to the regular orders CSL receives for Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) and other small fishing vessels.
Nair said the first ASW Corvettes have to be delivered in 42 months and then two vessels every year.
To maintain a quicker flow, CSL needs some big orders, Nair admitted.“We are definitely expecting something from the Navy and are also working towards other commercial interests in India and abroad. Moving forward is not easy. We need clearances from the government,” Nair said.
He said CSL had exported 50 commercial vessels to West Europe (Norway, the Netherlands and Germany), the US and Saudi Arabia. “We know how to export the vessels,” he said.Nair, however, said the international shipping and shipbuilding sections were going through a difficult phase for the past several years.
In the Inland Waterspace, CSL is currently building 10 inland water vessels, all ordered by IWAI. Of them, two are for Kochi, four for the Ganges and four for the Brahmaputra.“These are Ro-Ro vessels and will be used in Kochi upon delivery,” he said.He said CSL is participating in the bidding for the Water Metro project in Kochi.
“We are participating in the process. There are various things over there and we are keen on taking the process forward,” he said.Water Metro is a global tender and a few firms have been shortlisted, Nair said.
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