Pipavav bags Rs 2,600-cr Navy deal

AHMEDABAD: Pipavav Shipyard, the country’s largest ship-building facility in the private sector, has bagged a Rs 2,600-crore contract to build offshore patrol vessels for the Indian Navy. The shipyard located in Gujarat will be constructing about five such vessels, each with a displacement of about 2,000 tonne. With the Navy order in its kitty, the company’s order books have swelled to over Rs 7,000 crore.

“We have been declared as the lowest bidder by the ministry of defence (MoD) for contract to build off-shore patrol vessels (OPVs) for the Navy. This will be our maiden foray into building ships for the defence sector,” said Nikhil Gandhi, group chairman, SKIL Infrastructure, the original promoters of Pipavav Shipyard (PSL), a BSE-listed company.

“These vessels will be fitted with a 76 mm gun. They will be about 110 meters in length, will have a displacement of about 2,000 tonne and will have a maximum speed of 20 knots,” Mr Gandhi told ET on Friday.