Reliance to refit 1 Indian Navy ship shortly, 2 others by next April

NEW DELHI: The first of three ships of the Indian Navy undergoing refit at the Reliance Defence and Engineering Ltd ( RDEL) yard will be completed shortly and the entire project, worth Rs 300 crore, is likely to be finished by April next year.

Through a competitive bidding process (4 bidders from PSU and private sector participated), RDEL has been awarded the contracts for refitting of three vessels - INS Jamuna, INS Deepak and INS Savitri.

The refit activities, largest contract given to a private company, are expected to be completed by April 2017 with the first refit (INS Jamuna) getting completed shortly, industry sources said.

Navy sources said the contract was awarded to RDEL primarily because of the dry dock it has.

RDEL operates India's largest dry dock of 662 m length and 65 m width. The shipyard has the only modular shipbuilding facility with capacity to build fully fabricated and outfitted blocks prior to their erection in Dry Dock.

The fabrication facility is spread over 2.1 million sq. ft. The shipyard has a pre-erection berth of 980 meters length and 40 meters width, and 2 Goliath cranes with combined lifting capacity of 1,200 tonnes, besides outfitting berth length of 780 meters, the company has earlier said.