The Hindustan Shipyard Limited, the premier shipyard in the country, is all set to increase its net profit during current fiscal after putting a full-stop to recurring losses in 2015-16.
The HSL is also confident of improving its order book position in the new financial year with high-value orders, pending for several years, expected to materialise in a few months.
Thanks to a series of measures taken to improve productivity, order book and reduction in establishment cost by boosting the morale of the workforce, the yard which was taken over by the Ministry of Defence from Shipping in 2010 due to its strategic location, is projected to close the fiscal with significant rise in profit after tax. As per projections it will end the year with a profit after tax of ₹40 crore. HSL had earned a net profit of ₹19 crore after a long spell of continuous losses in 2015-16. It incurred a loss of ₹46.21 crore in 2013-14 and ₹202.84 crore in 2014-15.The net worth of the yard will also increase with the Centre considering a proposal made in June for capital restructuring worth ₹1209.81 crore. This will enable the organisation to borrow funds to meet its needs.When contacted, HSL CMD Rear Admiral L.V. Sarat Babu told The Hindu that the restructuring would not involve financial burden on the Centre. He said austerity measures and the initiatives taken by the management to improve the productivity by instilling confidence and sense of belonging among the employees had started yielding positive results. The yard has already received Letters of Offer for construction of five Fleet Support Ships worth ₹10,000 crore and two Strategic Operating Vessels (also called midgets) amounting to ₹3,000 crore.
The Ministry of Defence has chosen HSL to get high-value orders on nomination basis. It is also undertaking retrofitting of INS Sindhuvir. The order is worth ₹500 crore. Revenue from ship repairs has also gone up significantly.
