Bharati Shipyard bets big on off-shore, defence segments

Bharati Shipyard plans to focus strongly on the off-shore and defence segments and expects an over Rs 2,000-crore of orders over the next one-year, a top company official said.

"The off-shore and defence segments hold an immense potential. We are betting big on both and expect huge orders from them in the course of the next one-year," Bharati Shipyard's Managing Director PC Kapoor told PTI here.

Both are currently growing exponentially and the company expects orders of around Rs 2,000-crore from them, he said.

Even now, the company's order-book of Rs 5,000-crore has a huge component of off-shore orders at around Rs 3,000-crore and defence orders of around Rs 500-crore.

"Oil prices have risen of late and several oil companies are currently looking to add new assets. They want to dispose off their old assets and buy new ones on account of safety concerns," Kapoor said.

Similarly, over the next two-years, there would be a huge demand for defence vessels, he said, adding Bharati Shipyard is well-positioned to exploit these opportunities.

At present, around 50 ships are under construction at its shipyards due for deliveries by mid-2013, he said.

Asked if the company was facing any problem in the bulk and container segments, he said both the segments are still to come out of recession and one or two clients have asked the company to go slow on deliveries.

"There have been no cancellations--one or two clients have only asked us to go slow on deliveries. There is nothing to worry about," he said.