: Union Shipping and Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, on Friday, threw his weight behind the Cochin Shipyard (CSL) saying the profit-making public sector company was foraying into new pastures to sustain its growth.
“We are trying to help them harness new technology to make LNG carrying vessels for the first time in India and are in talks with a Korean firm for the purpose,” Mr. Gadkari told the media after a swift tour of the shipyard campus at Thevara.
He also visited the maiden indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant, whose second phase of construction is under way at the yard.
The External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had held discussions with the Korean company recently and a ship designer Antony Prince [whose company Smart Engineering and Design Solutions Ltd based at the Cochin Special Economic Zone] had suggested that he could provide the design.
Further, CSL was seeking an Australian firm’s collaboration in building light-weight high-speed craft and catamarans that could be used for transport of goods and passengers along the country’s inland waterways. There were also plans to build seaplanes, the minister said.
He said he would impress upon Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar to make ‘some agreement’ with the yard for its participation in defence shipbuilding. Mr. Gadkari said the yard should also spawn an ancillary industry for shipbuilding in Kerala.
He said growth topped the agenda of the Union government and schemes such as the Pradhan Mantri Jal Marg Yojana had been launched to enhance the network of waterways in the country. “Kerala, with its proven potential for inland transport, can take a lead in this. We will strengthen state’s shipping and inland navigation corporation with finances,” Mr. Gadkari said. The Union government backed the expansion initiatives of the CSL, including land allocation at a nominal rate.
As earlier reported by The Hindu , CSL is in talks with Korean firms Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co, Samsung Heavy Industries and Hyundai Heavy Industries for absorption of technology for LNG construction.
Nitin Gadkari
said the Union government was trying to help
CSL harness new technology to make LNG carrying vessels for the first time in India.
