L&T to build second shipyard

Larsen & Toubro (L&T), India’s largest construction and engineering firm, aims to invest more than $111 million to build a second shipyard and grab a share of the global demand for vessels, a senior official said. “We are looking at several locations on the east and west coast and investments are not a constraint,” M.V. Kotwal, senior executive vice president of L&T’s heavy engineering division, said, but did not give a time frame for the project.

L&T said on Tuesday it had won an order worth $98 million to build four semi-submersible container cargo vessels for Zadeko Ship Management CV of the Netherlands. It was the maiden order for L&T’s first shipyard, work for which had started at Hazira in the western state of Gujarat about 18 months ago. The first vessel would sail out in the first half of 2008 and the Hazira shipyard hoped to win more orders of a similar size in a year’s time.

L&T plans to build LNG carriers and oil tankers at the second facility, while the Hazira yard would focus on specialised vessels like survey ships, offshore and multi-support vessels. The company also expects to bid for orders from the Indian Navy, following a decision by the government to lift restrictions on the private sector in defence contracts.