Shipyards race for Rs 60,000 crore deal

Visakhapatnam: The race between shipyards controlled by the defence ministry and private ship builders to bag Rs 60,000-crore contract to build six submarines for the Indian Navy has turned interesting.

Rear Admiral N.K Mishra, Hindustan Shipyard Ltd chairman and managing director, had fired the salvo saying private shipyards work for profits. Adm. Mishra said he feared that private shipyards may compromise on quality after bidding at lower prices to bag the projects. “They never work for losses,” he said.

The defence ministry had appointed a high-powered committee to assess the strengths of various shipyards in both the public and private sectors for Project-75 (India). Along with the defence controlled yards, private sector Pipavav Yard, L&T, and ABG are also in the race. Last December, BHEL, Midhani and HSL formed a consortium to build submarines. The consortium will jointly stake claim with the MoD.

“There is a systematic smear campaign by the private yards against the defence controlled shipyards. There were instances where certain private shipyards had bagged work at a lower price and then stopped them midway without completing them,” Adm. Mishra said. “Private shipyards will never build ships for a loss, they will do it for profits. I fear they may compromise on quality,” he said.

“Warships should be built at defence controlled yards where technology, manpower and expertise are available. Proper care should be taken while building warships that are used to face the enemy,” he told reporters.

A core team headed by a three-star admiral has been formed with members from the MoD to assess the right shipyard. Earlier, five of the six submarines were to be built at the Mazagon Dock Ltd and HSL was to build one. According to the latest decision, all six are to be constructed by a single shipyard in India.