Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on August 23 laid the foundation stone virtually for five brownfield expansion projects of Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers and Yantra India Limited in West Bengal, involving a combined investment of nearly ₹3,500 crore.
The programme covers three GRSE projects and two facilities at Yantra India Limited’s Metal and Steel Factory in Ishapore. The expansion is intended to increase India’s shipbuilding, ship-repair, metallurgical and defence-production capacity while creating additional opportunities for employment, small businesses and industrial suppliers.
GRSE’s projects are located at Kidderpore in Kolkata, Shalimar in Howrah and Raichak in South 24-Parganas. The shipbuilder has signed lease agreements with Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port, Kolkata, for two small shipyards on either bank of the Hooghly and a 32-acre riverside property at Raichak.
The new facilities are expected to strengthen GRSE’s capacity to construct and refit warships and to build and repair small and medium commercial vessels. The expansion is designed to meet growing requirements from maritime forces as well as other defence and civilian maritime customers.
At Ishapore, two Yantra India projects with a combined investment of more than ₹750 crore will expand high-end metallurgical and manufacturing capabilities. The facilities are to use Industry 4.0 and energy-efficient technologies and support requirements in the defence, railway and other strategic sectors. Reducing dependence on imported materials and production capabilities is a central objective.
Singh said self-reliance in warship construction, offshore vessels and other maritime platforms was essential to national security. He also stressed quality assurance, timely delivery and dependable maintenance and refit services, areas that determine whether higher manufacturing capacity translates into operational availability for users.
The minister said global demand and capacity constraints in shipbuilding had created an opportunity for India. Expanding domestic yards could help the country meet its own requirements while competing for international commercial and defence orders. GRSE has delivered more than 100 vessels in recent years and is also building a cargo vessel for Germany, reflecting its effort to expand beyond the domestic market.
Yantra India, a Miniratna Category-I defence public-sector undertaking, is broadening its work beyond traditional defence production into research, development and advanced metallurgy. The Ishapore investment is expected to deepen capabilities that are difficult to substitute quickly during supply disruptions and are important to strategic manufacturing.
The projects are also expected to create demand for ancillary industries, including micro, small and medium enterprises supplying components, services and specialised industrial inputs. This wider vendor network will be important to achieving the scale and delivery schedules sought from the expansion.
The foundation ceremonies were conducted at the four project locations while the main programme was held virtually. Construction and capacity creation will now be the key tests as the companies move from the launch stage towards operational facilities and higher production output.
