Shashikesh Ranjan
Date: 28-10-26 21:03
Five ships of one design, an extended slipway and a 300-tonne crane: HSL’s chief tells INMARCO 2026 that series building is how Indian yards will close the cost gap with East Asia
Building ships in series, rather than one at a time, is how Indian shipyards can close the cost gap with their East Asian rivals, Rear Admiral C. Raghuram, VSM (Retd.), Chairman and Managing Director of Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL), said at INMARCO 2026 in Mumbai.
“A first ship is a prototype. The fifth ship is a product,” Raghuram said on the panel “Shipyards and Newbuilds: Maritime Landscape 2030,” organised by the Institute of Marine Engineers (India).
The Shipyards Association of India estimates the gap between Indian and East Asian yards at about 24 per cent. “Incentives can narrow it. Only series can close it,” Raghuram said. He described the change as a move from building ships to running a production system.
Five ships, one design
HSL is putting that idea to work at its Visakhapatnam yard, where it is building five fleet support ships for the Indian Navy. The Defence Ministry placed the order in August 2023 at a cost of nearly ₹19,000 crore, according to News on AIR and Naval News.
According to HSL, each ship is 43,500 tonnes, 222.8 metres long and 31.5 metres wide. Their job is to carry fuel, water, ammunition and stores to warships at sea.
On 6 October, HSL launched Surya, the first ship of the class. On the same day, it laid the keel of the fifth, formally starting its construction. The first ship of the series went into the water on the day work began on the last.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh attended as chief guest. HSL is also sharing the work: L&T’s shipbuilding arm is building components for two of the ships under a contract with HSL.
The crane and the slipway
The same ceremony opened HSL’s extended Slipway-4, served by a 300-tonne Goliath crane designed and built by L&T Geostructure, according to Naval News.
Modern yards build a ship as large, pre-fitted sections, or blocks, which are then joined on the slipway. The new crane allows heavier blocks to be lifted and placed precisely, Naval News reported. According to HSL, the slipway can take ships of up to 45,000 tonnes deadweight, a measure of how much a ship can carry.
Raghuram said a yard of this scale has already shown what it can do. “A yard that can take a 43,000 tonne ship from steel to water in eighteen months is no longer proving that it can build,” he said. “It is being asked whether it can build again, and again, on time and at a competitive cost.”
A steady order book for the industry
Series building needs a steady flow of orders, and Raghuram welcomed recent government support, including a demand outlook of about 437 vessels over ten years, a ₹69,725 crore package and a ₹25,000 crore Maritime Development Fund. The government has also given Indian-built ships infrastructure status and set a target of 4.5 million gross tonnes of shipbuilding capacity a year.
To help yards plan, Raghuram asked for clearer delivery timetables to be shared with them. He also asked equipment makers and financiers for long-term finance and local service support.
Three tests
Raghuram said Defence Minister Singh set three tests at HSL on 6 October, which he described as promises Indian yards owe the nation: design we own, delivery on time, and productivity we can measure.
He also set out two further shifts for the industry. India, he said, should help write the technical rules to which ships are built, starting with green tugboats. And every Indian-built ship should leave the yard with a “digital birth certificate,” a single record of her life for 30 years.
Every shipbuilding job creates about six more, Raghuram said, and the government package could generate close to 30 lakh jobs.
“Launching one ship is a ceremony. Delivering the fifth on time is an industry. And delivering the hundredth, year after year, is a nation’s shipbuilding,” he said.
Surya is scheduled to join the Navy in mid-2027, with her four sister ships to follow from Visakhapatnam.
भारत 24 लाइव — भारत का विश्वसनीय हिंदी समाचार पोर्टल। ताज़ा खबरें, विश्लेषण, वीडियो।
लाइव भारत 24 ऐप डाउनलोड करें और लाइव समाचार देखें