India’ Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has given its approval for construction of a new drydock within the existing premises of Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) at an estimated cost of INR 1,799 crore (USD 267.7 million).
The objective of the project is to increase the shipbuilding and ship repair capacity of the country and tap the market potential of building specialized and technologically advanced large vessels such as liquefied natural gas (LNG) vessels, indigenous aircraft carriers of higher capacity, jack up rigs, drill ships, large dredgers, and repairing of offshore platforms and larger vessels.
There would be no financial outgo from the government on account of the construction of new dry dock as the expenditure will be funded through Internal and Extra Budgetary resources (IEBR) of CSL and the funding requirements are fully tied up.
The government expects that apart from direct employment of 300 personnel, about 2,000 personnel would be indirectly employed when the project becomes fully operational.