(a) whether the Government has any specific schemes for improving the
infrastructure in various shipyards in the country;
(b) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
(c) whether any committee has been set up to study the issues of different
shipyards of the country; and
(d) if so, the details thereof?
MINISTER OF SHIPPING (SHRI G.K. VASAN)
(a) & (b): There are two public sector shipyards under the administrative
control of Ministry of Shipping viz. Cochin Shipyard Ltd(CSL), Kochi and Hooghly
Dock and Port Engineers Ltd.(HDPEL),Kolkata. CSL is undertaking modernisation/
augmentation of their shipbuilding & shiprepair facilities from time to time from
their own internal resources. CSL has been improving its infrastructure every year
by spending around Rs. 40 crore on renewals and replacements and facilities for
construction of Indigenous Aircraft Carrier. Besides the yard has commissioned
a dedicated facility for construction of small ships in the year 2008 at a cost
of Rs. 78 crore. A Rehabilitation-cum-Restructuring proposal of HDPEL has been
approved by the Government which includes formation of a Joint venture company
with a Private Sector Player through open bidding process, waiver of Government
loan etc.
(c) & (d): A Committee was set up under the Chairmanship of Shri Budhiraja,
the then Chairman of Indian Ports Association, in September,2005 to suggest fiscal
and other incentives to encourage investments in shipbuilding in India and other
measures related to setting up of international size shipyards. The Report of the
Committee was submitted in June 2006 recommending various measures for growth of the
shipbuilding industry.