After Mazagon Dock Ltd, two more defence ministry-controlled shipyards are looking for private partners to build warships to meet rising demand from the Indian Navy and the Coast Guard, according to a report on www.LiveMint.com. Hindustan Shipyard Ltd and Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd reportedly have received expressions of interest from 8-10 private shipyards in response to tenders floated last month. While separately inviting expressions of interest for joint venture partnerships last month, the two shipbuilders said in similarly worded advertisements on their websites that they were “looking at a joint collaborative strategy to meet the challenging timelines in order to liquidate the existing order book as well as expected orders from the Indian Navy and Coast Guard,” according to the LiveMint.com report. State-run defense shipyards are looking for private partners to expedite production as the government tries to boost maritime defence capabilities to deal with piracy and terrorism. Mumbai-based Mazagon Dock, with an order book of Rs.1 trillion accounting for about 85% of India’s defence shipbuilding orders, recently selected Pipavav Defence and Offshore Engineering Co. Ltd as a joint venture partner to build warships. (Source: www.LiveMint.com)
