Pipavav Shipyard has signed an agreement with the UK-based Babcock group to jointly build aircraft carriers for the Indian Navy.
“This is an important milestone in Pipavav Shipyard’s efforts to become a major player in the Defence sector. This event is likely to eliminate the necessity to import large battle ships such as aircraft carrier in the future,” the company said in filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
It added “this is the first time in the country that such important co-operation for lead battle ships between a global major and Indian private shipyard has taken place, paving the way for India to be self-sufficient for such vital assets’’.
However, the filing did not give any details on whether Babcock has picked any stake in Pipavav.
Besides this, the statement said the company will also look for forming joint ventures to build similar lead battle ships for friendly countries.
Babcock group is the UK’s leading naval support business and is involved in building next generation aircraft carriers, managing naval bases.
It also does refitting, refuelling and decommissioning of submarines, undertakes maintaining and refitting warships and providing equipment support on behalf of the UK government.
In November 2010, Pipavav had said it received a licence to build warships for Indian Navy after securing clearances from the Home and Defence Ministries and other related agencies. Subsequently, its proposal was also cleared by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board.
As per the approval, Pipavav Shipyard has the licence to build five warships per year, which in effect means that the company can undertake about 20 warships of various capacities at a time, as the normal building time for any front line warship is between three to four years.
According to the company, it is the only shipyard in the private sector with modular construction facilities and a huge dry dock to receive the licence.
Meanwhile, the shares of the company were trading at Rs 88.70 in the late afternoon trade on the BSE, up 2.54 per cent from the previous close.