HSL transferred to Defence Ministry

New Delhi,Dec 24: The Centre has approved the transfer of Hindustan Shipyard Limited at Visakhapatnam from the Ministry of Shipping to the Ministry of Defence to meet the national security requirements of building strategic vessels for Indian Navy.A press note issued by the Ministry of Defence said the Government has given in principle approval to the Ministry of Shipping for setting up a shipyard of international standards.Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni said the move is aimed at creating capabilities for the Navy to indigenously construct nuclear submarines.

Briefing the media about the Cabinet decisions, she said the location of the new shipyard is yet to be finalised. The Shipping Ministry had sent a note to the Cabinet for the transfer of HSL after valuing the company at a little over Rs 1,000 crore and finalising the transfer modalities. HSL has built around 150 ships and repaired over 1,800 so far and undertaken repair works for the Navy.She said that the shipyard has work orders worth Rs 2,000 crore, which are likely to be completed by March 2011.