L&T shipbuilding receives fresh orders worth Rs 447 crore from the defence ministry
Larsen & Toubro's shipbuilding division on Tuesday said that the company has received an order worth Rs 447 crore from the Ministry of Defence for the construction of 18 High Speed Interceptor Boats for the Indian Coast Guard, The Economic Times reports.
The company had earlier received a similar contract when it was awarded a similar contract worth Rs 977 crore for the construction of 36 vessels.
"With this order, L&T is positioned as the foremost Indian shipyard in terms of capability to indigenously design and construct the largest number of Interceptor Boats for India's Ministry of Defence", L&T said in a statement.
L&T Shipbuilding, a subsidiary of domestic infrastructure major currently has a facility in Hazira in Gujarat and a shipyard-cum-port at Kattupalli near Chennai on the East Coast.
Last year, Japanese shipbuilding major, Mitsubishi had said that the company was interested in acquiring a minority stake in L&T's shipbuilding division.
Indian Shipyards have been dependent on the defence ministry for shipbuilding contracts as the sector has not been able to tap fresh orders since 2007 when a subsidy for the sector was withdrawn.
While Indian shipyards only contribute 0.1% of the global shipbuilding industry, shipyards in China, Japan and South Korea produce more than 75 % of the vessels manufactured globally.
In 2011, the government agreed also allowed public private partnerships in the defence sector and Mazagon Dock, country's largest defence shipyard was the first to sign a deal with L&T shipbuilding to jointly manufacture submarines for the Indian Navy.
