Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) has signed an MoU with National Shipbuilding and Heavy Industries Park, Andhra Pradesh, to develop a greenfield shipyard at Dugarajapatnam. MDL is a Navratna Defence PSU under the Ministry of Defence. The MoU was signed in the presence of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu. It was signed by MDL Chairman and Managing Director Captain Jagmohan and NSHIP-AP Managing Director Praveen Adhithya C.V.
Under the agreement, MDL plans to invest around 15,000 crore rupees over the next five to seven years. The investment will be subject to the required approvals and clearances. The project is expected to create direct and indirect employment for around 45,000 people. The proposed shipyard will have a design capacity of 1.2 million gross tonnes per year. It can also be expanded in the future.
The shipyard will build commercial vessels such as tankers, bulk carriers, container ships and LNG carriers. It will also build other specialised vessels. The project is part of the proposed Dugarajapatnam Shipbuilding-cum-Port Cluster. It is being developed under the Government of India’s Shipbuilding Development Scheme. NSHIP-AP has identified MDL as the anchor shipyard for developing the cluster.
