Kolkata: Shri Sarbananda Sonowal, Union Minister of Port, Shipping and Waterways & AYUSH dedicated the newly built State-of-the-Art ship building facility of Hooghly Cochin Shipyard Limited at Nazirgunge, Howrah, West Bengal to the nation.
The Rs. 180 Crore facility, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cochin Shipyard Ltd, a PSE under the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways was dedicated to the nation by the Union Minister of PSW and AYUSH in the presence of Shri Shantanu Thakur, Minister of State of Ports, Shipping and Waterways.
“I am extremely happy that such a state of the art shipyard is coming up on the banks of the Hooghly in Kolkata. This will provide a great boost in meeting the requirements of new generation, high technology, greener vessels to propel further growth in inland water transport along the National Waterways. This will also be great impetus to water transport connectivity to the North-Eastern states.
The yard will not only enable economic development in the close region, but will also provide direct and indirect employment as well as development of MSME’s and Ancillaries. I wish HCSL all the best and am sure that in the days to come, Hooghly Cochin Shipyard will follow the footsteps of Cochin Shipyard Limited to carry on and further build up on CSL’s glorious legacy in creating an Atmanirbhar Bharat as envisioned by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and also towards the creation of a high quality, globally recognized, cleaner and greener ship-building ecosystem” the Minister stated.
HCSL was set up reviving the two-century old HDPEL ship building yard at Nazirgunge and therefore amalgamates its rich and long shipbuilding heritage with the outstanding expertise of CSL, which is the premier shipyard in India with proven experience of designing, building and delivering high quality complex vessels to clients throughout the world. This is an example of huge contribution to the nation by reviving a sick unit through another PSE and converting it into a modern shipyard.
HCSL is equipped with sophisticated equipment, experienced workforce as well as QA/QC, NDT and Fire & Safety Systems. HCSL has obtained IMS Certification (ISO 9001-2015 – Quality Certification, ISO 14001-2015 – Environment Safety & ISO 45001-2018 – Health and Safety Certification). The facility is strategically located with both slipway launching (upto 80 Mtrs) and side launching facilities (upto 110 Mtr) as well as outfitting jetties.
National Waterway-1 covers Ganga – Bhagirathi – Hooghly for a length of 1620 Km covering state UP, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and NW-2 covers West Bengal, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, and Meghalaya. Jal Marg Vikas project is a Government of India initiative for capacity augmentation of shipping and navigation on the national waterways No 1.
This would enable commercial navigation of 1500- 2000 ton vessels in Phase 1. The development of the national waterways will provide business opportunities for cargo movements, passenger vessel construction and operations, cruise operations, ship repairs etc. Further, under Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana, there is an opportunity to build Deep Sea Fishing Vessels at HCSL.
HCSL aims to position itself as a lead player in inland waterway vessel construction in the country. It will serve the inland water transport sector by construction of inland water vessels for transport of men & material along & across the National Waterways, mainly Ganga (NW1) & Brahmaputra (NW2).
HCSL will also aid in the indigenous construction of green vessels including Hybrid and Pure electric operated vessels, non-conventional fuels and fuel cells technology operated vessels, coastal and inland river vessels, river cruise vessels, river container vessels, LNG and Methanol fuel vessels and barges. HCSL can provide comprehensive support to clients by not only constructing technologically advanced vessels, but also by providing life cycle support for maintenance and upkeep of the vessels.
The State-of-the-Art HCSL would usher in vast Socio-economic development in the immediate region. This Shipyard would also open up opportunities for setting up of ancillaries & MSME’s to support the yard. It will assist in generation of considerable gainful Employment in the adjoining areas.
The event was attended by Shri Prasun Banerjee, Member of Parliament, Shri Madhu S Nair-Chairman HCSL & CMD CSL, Directors of CSL, Shri Vinit Kumar–Chairman SMP and other Senior dignitaries and guests.
