Shipbuilding top priority for India: Modi to Hyundai head

Shipbuilding is a top priority for India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the chairman of Korean manufacturing giant Hyundai Heavy Industries on Tuesday.

"Shipbuilding is a top priority for us." PM @narendramodi tells Kil Seon Choi Chairman of Hyundai Heavy Industries," tweeted external affairs ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup.

Addressing the India-Korea CEOs forum earlier in the day in the South Korean capital Seoul, Modi said: "Your ship-building capacity and our agenda of port led development can become driver of our growth."

"At the forefront of maritime engineering. PM visits Hyundai Heavy Industries Headquarters in Ulsan," Swarup tweeted.

"PM @narendramodi arrives in Gimhae. From here he will drive to Ulsan, the birthplace of Korea's industrialisation," he tweeted earlier.

With several hundred Korean companies already operating in India, Modi earlier on Tuesday invited South Korean companies and asked them to help India achieve the economic success.

"We in India want to achieve a lot of what Korea has already done. That is why I, along with a large business delegation, are here," Modi said, addressing the joint CEOs forum in Seoul.

"Your steel-making capacity and our resources of iron ore can be put together," Modi said.

He said infrastructure and housing were the other fields where both countries could work together in a big way.

South Korea offered to provide $10 billion for infrastructure projects in India, including smart cities and railways, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks with President Park Geun-hye here on Monday.

The two countries decided to elevate their ties to a special strategic partnership.