Cochin Shipyard launched 3 corvettes (small warships) simultaneously. Cochin Shipyard will now hand over this warfare ship to the Indian Navy. Cochin Shipyard had received orders for eight corvettes worth more than Rs 5,500 crore in 2019. The shipyard wants to complete its order book of Rs 22,000 crore on time.
‘Profit was made despite aggressive bidding’
Madhu Nair, President and MD of Cochin Shipyard, told BQ Prime on the occasion of the launch of the corvette that this project was not easy as the bidding process started in 2014 and it took four years to complete the contract in April 2019. After this there was Covid and demonetisation. MD Madhu Nair also said that we made a very aggressive bid for this project, which was Rs 100 crore less than the L2 bid and we still made profit on this contract.
The three Mahe-class ships – INS Mahe, INS Malvan and INS Mangrol, named after historic Indian ports, will replace all the Abhay-class ships. The corvettes launched on Thursday will be fitted with weapons over the next 12-18 months before being handed over to the Indian Navy.
Nair said that we will complete the work of fitting the first Corvette with weapons by November 2024 and the remaining two will be completed in the next six months. The launch of these 3 corvettes after the commissioning of INS Vikrant reflects the capability of Cochin Shipyard.
Cochin Shipyard’s order book is around Rs 22,000 crore, which includes defense orders worth around Rs 16,600 crore. The shipyard has also received orders worth more than Rs 9,800 crore for next generation warfare ships. Nair said, technical and engineering work is going on on the next generation warfare ship.
Cochin Shipyard became the first civilian shipyard in India to win an order for an indigenous aircraft carrier in 2009. INS Vikrant was inducted into the Navy in 2022. Now it is eyeing an order for another such ship from the Defense Ministry.
On Wednesday, shares of Cochin Shipyard rose by 3.60% i.e. Rs 42 and closed at Rs 1206.
