Cabinet to mull Hind Shipyard transfer to Defence Ministry

A move is afoot to transfer a major shipyard to the Defence Ministry, a step aimed at creating capabilities to construct nuclear submarines.
    
A proposal to transfer state-owned Hindustan Shipyard (HSL) from the administrative control of the Shipping Ministry to the Defence Ministry is expected to be considered by the Cabinet any day now.
    
"After valuation of HSL, which comes to a little over Rs 1,000 crore and finalising other transfer modalities, the Shipping Ministry has sent a note to the Cabinet last week in this regard," a senior Shipping Ministry official told PTI.
    
Sources say HSL, which has built some 150 ships and repaired over 1,800 so far besides undertaking naval repairs, will be critical to the Navy?s plan to induct a fleet of nuclear submarines in the coming years.
    
"The proposal has already been sent to the Cabinet and we are awaiting a final nod which is expected anytime. The shipyard has work orders worth Rs 2,000 crore, which are likely to be completed by March 2011," an HSL official told PTI.
    
The move comes after long negotiations between the two ministries, as during the tenure of the previous UPA regime the shipping ministry was not perceived to be favourable to such a transfer.
    
Earlier, an empowered group of ministers, headed by Pranab Mukherjee was formed to sort out the issues like transfer of strategic land to Defence.

The GoM in February 2008, while considering the proposal inter alia recommended that the yard of HSL be transferred to the Ministry of Defence for strategic requirements.
    
The GoM also recommended a valuation the current existing assets of the shipyard. Following this, Axis Bank was appointed to do the valuation process and value has been worked out at Rs 1,021.99 crore.
    
Out of the 27 shipyards in the country, six are owned by the Centre and three of them are considered crucial ? HSL at Visakhapatnam, Cochin Shipyard, and Hooghly Dock and Port Engineers at Kolkata.