L&T to expand shipbuilding capacity, will invest Rs1,847 crore
17 Feb 2010
New Delhi: Indian engineering, construction and defence major Larsen and Toubro (L&T) has said it will invest around Rs1,847 crore ($400 million) by mid-2011 in expanding ship-building capacity, in particular for the defence sector.
''Our Hazira manufacturing facility has certain limitations as it cannot produce large ships. So, we are setting up a new facility near Ennore port to produce large ships and submarines, mostly for the Indian Navy,'' L&T executive vice president and board member MV Kotwal said on the sidelines of Defexpo-2010.
Kotwal said the company would use around 1,200 acres of land near Kadipully village adjacent to Ennore port near Chennai for building naval vessels. It is already building a ship-manufacturing facility over here.
He also indicated that the new facility would also be utilised for producing large ships of different categories, such LPG and LNG carriers.
On the proposed joint venture with the European aerospace and defence group, EADS, he said, ''L&T is talking to the government to resolve the issue.''
Earlier, the government had rejected L&T's proposal to set up a joint venture with EADS for providing services to the defence sector.