India's shipbuilding push finds a new berth as Miniratna HSL and Kakinada Seaports sign MoU

Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL), a defence public sector shipyard, and Kakinada Seaports Limited (KSPL), the operator of the Kakinada Deep Water Port, today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to explore shipbuilding at KSPL’s facility in Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh.

The MoU was signed by Rear Admiral Chandrasekharan Raghuram, VSM (Retd.), Chairman and Managing Director (CMD), HSL, and K.V. Rao, CMD, KSPL.

The agreement comes as India looks for ways to build more of its ships at home. Rather than proposing a new yard, it examines whether infrastructure that already exists at a port can be adapted for shipbuilding.

What the agreement covers

Under the MoU, the two companies will study whether KSPL’s existing slipway and associated infrastructure, including its jetty facilities, can be used by HSL for shipbuilding. A slipway is the sloping platform on which a hull is built before launch. A jetty is where the vessel is berthed while the remaining work on board is completed.

The MoU provides for an assessment of these facilities and, where needed, their augmentation. The two companies will also identify shipbuilding projects suited to the site and explore models for working together.

The agreement is exploratory. Details such as the vessels to be built, the investment involved and the timeline will depend on the outcome of the assessment.

HSL said the initiative was a constructive step towards making use of existing maritime infrastructure. It said the arrangement could add operational capacity and create new opportunities in shipbuilding and allied maritime activities.

Why existing infrastructure matters

Developing a new shipyard requires land, waterfront access and heavy structures, all of which take time to put in place. Facilities that already stand on the waterfront offer a different starting point. If they can be brought up to the required standard, shipbuilding could begin at a site without building it from the ground up.

For HSL, a Category-I Miniratna company under the Ministry of Defence, the approach adds to other efforts to widen its base. The company has built and repaired ships in Visakhapatnam since 1941 and carries out submarine refits for the Indian Navy. Its yard includes a covered building dock that can handle vessels of up to 80,000 deadweight tonnes.

KSPL, for its part, has operated the Kakinada Deep Water Port since March 1999 under a concession from the Government of Andhra Pradesh. The port was the first in the state to be privatised.

In November 2025, HSL signed an MoU with the Andhra Pradesh Maritime Board to explore a greenfield shipyard in the state, a longer-term project on fresh land. In February 2026, HSL and Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) signed an MoU to form a consortium for a large national shipbuilding programme.

What the two heads said

Raghuram, who took charge as CMD in July after more than 35 years in the Indian Navy, said the agreement offered a practical way to add capacity.

“India needs more shipbuilding capacity, and some of it can come from infrastructure that already exists. Our first step is to understand what Kakinada can support and how it fits with HSL’s work,” he said.

Rao said KSPL saw value in putting its facilities to wider use.

“A port and a shipyard can complement each other. We will work through the assessment with HSL and take the partnership forward on that basis,” he said.

The national picture

The MoU fits within a wider government effort to grow India’s shipbuilding industry. In September 2025, the Union Cabinet approved a ₹69,725 crore package for the shipbuilding and maritime sector.

The package includes a ₹24,736 crore Shipbuilding Financial Assistance Scheme, extended until March 2036, and a ₹25,000 crore Maritime Development Fund to support financing for the sector. It also includes a ₹19,989 crore Shipbuilding Development Scheme, which supports shipbuilding clusters, infrastructure upgrades and ancillary industries.

That scheme aims to expand India’s shipbuilding capacity to 4.5 million gross tonnage a year. The government’s wider strategy covers both greenfield and brownfield development, supporting new investment while modernising existing shipyards.

According to the government, the package is expected to draw around ₹4.5 lakh crore in investment and generate close to 30 lakh direct and indirect jobs across the maritime value chain.

Arrangements such as the HSL–KSPL MoU, which look first at infrastructure already in place, are one way such capacity could be found. HSL said the collaboration supports India’s drive for self-reliance in shipbuilding under the Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiative.