Make in India push: Cochin Shipyard building Rs 4,357 crore worth Defence ships, carriers

NEW DELHI: The Cochin Shipyard is building fast patrol vessels and indigenous aircraft carriers worth Rs 4,357 crore for the Defence, Parliament was told today.

"The Ministry of Shipping has taken it up with the Ministry of Defence recently to place Defence ship-building orders with the Cochin Shipyard... The Ministry of Defence has said various Defence shipyards engaged in warship-building projects are being encouraged to offload part of their work," Minister of State for Shipping, Pon Radhakrishnan told the Lok Sabha.

The orders to the Cochin Shipyard include a contract worth Rs 2,848 crore for building indigenous aircraft carriers (IAC) for the Indian Navy, Radhakrishnan said, in a written reply.

"The contract for the phase II of IAC was signed on December 16, 2014 envisaging completion of... diesel alternator trials by 2016," he said.

The other Rs 1,509-crore contract related to building 20 fast patrol vessels (FPVs) for the Indian Coast Guard, the Minister said.

He said 14 FPVs have already been delivered while the last vessel is scheduled for delivery on March 19, 2017.

Earlier, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari had said the state-owned Shipyard will build Defence warships under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Make-in-India' initiative.