A massive submarine project that is worth 1000 Crores has Hindustan Shipyard Limited, HSL in talks with shipbuilding firm from Russia.

Hindustan Shipyard Limited may be undertaking Medium Refit and Life Certification (MRLC) of a Russia EKM Class submarine that may is a project worth Rs. 1000 Crore. The firm from Russia is already in talks with HSL and if the contract goes through the work is slotted to start this year. With work by HSL, the life of the 25 year old submarine is expected to extend by 10 years. For discussions, a 7 member delegation from Joint Stock Company United Shipbuilding Corporation, Moscow, Russia lead by Alexey V Dikiy, Director, Military and Technical Corporation, was in Visakhapatnam from January 10-12.

The refit that HSL could be taking over will give a new lease of life, extending the operational time by 10 years. A total of 4 submarines are to undergo refit through Indian Navy and HSL. Two of the refits are happening in Russia while 2 others will be undertaken here.

There were two bidders for this purpose and these were HSL based in Visakhapatnam and the Larsen and Toubro shipyard based in Chennai. The competitive bidding process starts in March. The visiting delegation from Russia were shown around the shipyard and they were extremely happy with the shipyard’s infrastructure, our expertise and work-culture. The HSL authorities are extremely confident of bagging the contract.

Source – The Times of India