Soon, mega shipbuilding component unit may come up in Thoothukudi

CREW and a foreign major to build South India's largest ship component unit in Thoothukudi, boosting Tamil Nadu's maritime ambitions and job creation

Giving yet another boost to Thoothukudi’s (Tamil Nadu) industrial activities in recent years, a foreign major and Chennai Radha Engineering Works (CREW) are set to build one of the largest shipbuilding component manufacturing units of South India, said a source aware of the development.

 

This partnership of CREW, a leading supplier of coaches and rail systems to the railways, would entail an investment of ₹1,500 crore and may have a major port as stakeholder.

 

To fuel the blue economy further, the government is also in the process of setting up a state public sector undertaking (PSU) soon.

 

This comes amid reports that the world’s largest shipbuilding company HD Hyundai and Cochin Shipyard were in talks to come up with a shipbuilding unit in South India.

 

The facility is expected to create more than 1,400 jobs.

 

“CREW, along with the overseas major, has proposed to establish a shipbuilding component manufacturing unit in Thoothukudi with an investment of about ₹1,500 crore. This will include ship hull design and manufacturing, and can be considered as a research and development (R&D) precursor for the shipbuilding revolution in Tamil Nadu,” said the source. 

 

The Indian shipbuilding industry is likely to grow at an exponential rate from around $90 million now to $8.12 billion by 2033, said a report by Finextra Research.

   

Interestingly, an industrial revival is expected in Southern Tamil Nadu districts — including Thoothukudi, Dindigul, Kanyakumari, Madurai, Ramanathapuram, Sivaganga, Theni, Tirunelveli, and Virudhunagar — as the region has been seeing a huge influx of investments from mostly foreign companies since the DMK government took charge in May 2021.

 

Of the total ₹7.5 trillion worth of investments that the state has received in the last four years, around ₹2.2 trillion came to these districts, creating over one million jobs.

 

The Centre has also lined up schemes like the ₹25,000-crore Maritime Development Fund, and ₹18,000-crore financial assistance policy, to boost shipbuilding in India.

 

“Shipbuilding is huge. Kerala is doing a fantastic job with Cochin Yard. Cochin Yard is actually doing some of the best ships in the world. We want to do better. Of course, whatever Tamil Nadu does will be the best in India. We're coming up with something really big. So, we should hopefully be coming up with it very soon. Because even if other states compete, I know that they can't beat us,” said Tamil Nadu industries minister TRB Rajaa, in a recent Business Standard investment summit in Chennai.

     

Among the major investments lined up in Thoothukudi is the upcoming ₹16,000 crore manufacturing unit by VinFast, to be inaugurated by Chief Minister M K Stalin on Monday. 

   

The company and the state are planning to develop an electric vehicle (EV) ecosystem with supplier companies in and around the region too.

 

Thoothukudi is also set to give wings to India’s green hydrogen ambitions in South India. Four global majors — Malaysian government-owned oil and gas giant Petronas-backed Amplus Ganges Solar, Singapore’s state-run energy firm Sembcorp Industries’ Green Infra Renewable Energy, Gurugram-based Acme Green Hydrogen and Chemicals, and ReNew Energy’s subsidiary ReNew E-Fuels — are expected to come up with a hydrogen hub. This is expected to attract an investment of ₹41,860 crore in its first phase, at VO Chidambaranar (VOC) Port in the state.

 

The first phase of this project is likely to be commissioned by 2028.