Nearly a year and a half after signing MoU with the Andhra Pradesh Government for its ₹5,000-crore naval shipbuilding facility at Rambilli, about 70 km from here, the stage is set for allotment of 1,000 acres of beachfront area for the Reliance ADA Group.
The greenfield facility, for which MoU was inked between Reliance ADA Group Chairman Anil Ambani and Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu here on January 11, 2016, at the CII Partnership Summit in the presence of Union Ministers Arun Jaitley and Nirmala Sitharaman, will mostly meet the needs of Arihant Class indigenously built nuclear-powered submarines.
INS Varsha project
In the close vicinity of the site being allotted to the Reliance Group, the Ministry of Defence is establishing INS Varsha, the Naval Alternative Operational Base (NAOB) under the INS Varsha Project.
The new base will de-congest the Eastern Naval Headquarters located in the city. It will be the main base for docking Arihant submarines being built at the shipbuilding centre.
Highly placed sources in the AP Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) told The Hindu that the orders for allotment of 1,000 acres would be issued shortly. The price of land is now being finalised.
the APIIC is in the process of acquiring 3,000 acres in Rambilli and Atchutapuram areas and 4,000 acres in the nearby Nakkapalli area for allotment to various industrial projects. A petrochemical complex has also been proposed between Visakhapatnam and Kakinada ports. The Navy is projected to give orders worth ₹3 lakh crore for various contracts under acquisition and modernisation of submarines and aircraft carriers under ‘Make in India’ programme during the next 13 to 14 years.
The Reliance Group also owns a shipbuilding facility at Pipavav in Gujarat. Of the 3,000 acres sought by the project proponent at Rambilli, the State Government has agreed to allot 1,000 acres in the first phase.
Job prospects
At the time of inking the MoU, Mr. Anil Ambani had declared that their world-class shipbuilding facility would provide several thousands of skilled jobs in the area and pave the way for further investment of ₹5,000 crore to ₹10,000 crore giving scope for more number of jobs.
The Kolkata-based Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers has also made a proposal to establish a greenfield shipbuilding facility at Rambilli for which it had sought suitable land from the State.
The Hindustan Shipyard Limited, a defence PSU set up in 1941, is known for its specialisation in shipbuilding and submarine repair facility.
