The South Korean government is yet to name its recommended organization and is expected to do so in due course of time. “The cooperation with the recommended Korean Shipyard would enable HSL to upgrade and modernize its facilities and execute naval shipbuilding projects in a timely and cost effective manner. HSL would be able to imbibe best practices in shipbuilding leading to effective project management,” Ashok Kumar Gupta, Secretary (Defence Production), Indian defense ministry, said.
The ministry expects substantial growth in HSL’s production, leading to the creation of more employment avenues. The Indian government has also planned to identify and develop indigenous sources/vendors for the supply of majority of the material and equipment that would be needed in co-operative naval projects.
The Indian government is consistently making efforts to minimize the import content in the indigenously developed naval projects. The import component of ships manufactured by HSL was 21 percent in 2016-17 which is slightly lower than 27 percent in 2015-16. Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd, India’s largest shipbuilding company, uses import content up to 58 percent in indigenously developed naval projects.
