Narmada turning into shipbuilding hub

The estuary of Narmada river, in Gujarat, India, is all set to become the lifeline for shipbuilding activities of India. In a move with far-reaching consequences, the Gujarat government has decided to develop the 12-km stretch south of Dahej, at the point where the Narmada river meets the Gulf of Khambhat, as a Marine Shipbuilding Park (MSP), first of its kind in the country.

A Rs 1,000-crore Gujarat Maritime Board project for developing common infrastructure facilities for shipbuilders is ready. While two shipyards, i.e. ABG Shipyard and Shoft Engineering Shipyard, already exist here, officials said at least a dozen shipyards are proposed to be set up, each with an investment ranging from Rs 300 crore to Rs 1,200 crore. The northern bank of Narmada estuary offers nearly 10-metre deep draught during high tide, good enough to build ships up to 10,000 DWT.

A senior bureaucrat said, “With the decision to move the Kalpasar dam north of Dahej, shipbuilding activities have become viable. Had Dahej and Narmada river remained within the Kalpasar reservoir, developmental activities would not have been possible. Even the other bank of the Gulf of Khambhat, the Bhavnagar coast which too is now out of Kalpasar?s new design, will also be developed to build smaller ships.

Gujarat chief secretary D Rajagopalan has been pressing ahead with the idea of developing shipbuilding clusters like the ones in South Korea, China, Japan and Indonesia. Currently, India accounts for just one per cent of shipbuilding activities in the world. With the decision to develop MSP, Gujarat may well fulfil the Government of India?s shipbuilding policy perspective of taking it up to 10%.