Rs. 1,400-cr. shipbuilding yard planned for Tuticorin

The Tuticorin Port Trust plans to establish a shipbuilding yard on its premises on an outlay of Rs. 1,400 crore, to be built on build-operate-transfer (BOT) or lease basis.

Korea Maritime Consultants Company Limited, which conducted a feasibility study, submitted its report to the port authorities a few days ago.

Speaking to The Hindu , N.K. Raghupathy, Chairman, TPT, said the proposed facility would be established on 49.68 hectares — 31.68 ha of reclaimed area and 18 ha of waterfront. "We plan to build six Panamax-size vessels every year," he said.

The yard would have a building dock of 390 metres in length, 65 metres in breadth and 10 metres in height and five berths with a total length of 1,200 metres.

The other facilities include a pipe fabrication and assembly unit, pre-erection yard, galvanising unit, hull fabrication section and provision to stack steel, pipes and hull blocks.

About 60,000 to 66,000 tonnes of steel meant for shipbuilding would be handled at the yard in a year.

Mr. Raghupathy said the yard would provide employment to 5,000 persons.

"The ancillary units that will come up once the yard is established will generate more jobs," he said.

Construction of the yard would be completed in four years, once the Centre accorded statutory clearance, he said.

Source: The Hindu