GRSE recently received a fully assembled crane, which will aid in the production of the 23 platforms on the company's current order book, which includes six projects.
To improve its prospects in commercial shipbuilding, GRSE has signed preliminary agreements with DCNS of France and Gibbs and Cox of the United States for ship design collaboration in order to increase exports.
NEW DELHI: Despite competition from China, Indian warship builder Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd (GRSE) is making a determined bid to win orders from India's periphery, Southeast Asia, and Africa to expand its order book.
As per Rear Admiral V.K.Saxena, chairman and managing director of Kolkata-based GRSE, a defense sector public sector unit (PSU), which currently sees 7% of its total revenue from exports, the company aims to increase that to 25%-30% in the next five years. Commercial orders have been received from Guyana and Bangladesh to construct an ocean-going passenger/cargo vessel from the former and patrol boats for the fishery department from the latter.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Saxena said that the covid-19 pandemic, which put a strain on the workforce and supply chains, has accelerated plans to modernize the shipbuilder by incorporating Artificial Intelligence, 3D modeling, and virtual reality labs.
The defense PSU recently received a fully assembled crane weighing more than 1,600 tonnes transported to Kolkata from South Korea. The new crane would aid in the production of the 23 platforms on the GRSE's current order book, which includes six projects.
The Indian Navy has commissioned three of the six projects, including the construction of stealth frigates, survey vessels, and anti-submarine warfare shallow water craft.
GRSE also signed a concessionary agreement with Kolkata Port Trust (KPT) to formally take over three docks from KPT that will be used for refits and repairs of both military and commercial vessels, according to Saxena. He mentioned that there were good business prospects from India and from Bangladesh.
Saxena described GRSE's receipt of export orders from Guyana and Bangladesh as a "small beginning," adding that the prospects were promising.
"Previously, we were never looking at that (exports), but thanks to the Government of India initiatives and the targets they have set in place for exports of defense platforms, I am now looking at commercial platforms as well." So I am relatively confident that these are the openings, and we, as a capable shipyard that has produced 788 platforms, including 107 warships, have everything," Saxena told reporters during a virtual briefing. "And we might be able to make inroads into the exports arena as well," he added.
The mention was to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement last year that Indian defense manufacturers would aim for $5 billion in exports by 2025. The defense ministry has compiled a list of more than 200 defense hardware products that will be procured from domestic firms in an effort to boost defense manufacturing in India, which is known as one of the world's top three military hardware buyers.
"There are various influences at work in terms of geopolitics and the region." So we are certainly looking at Southeast Asian and Far East Asian countries, particularly the Philippines and Indonesia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, and the MENA (the Middle East North Africa) and some of the countries there. "Talks and discussions are ongoing, and we have no idea how they will translate into actual orders," Saxena said.
Smaller boats, such as patrol vessels, had piqued countries' interest in the Indian Ocean region, he said.
"China is a world leader in shipbuilding... "They account for nearly 40% of global shipbuilding," he later added.
To improve its prospects in commercial shipbuilding, GRSE has signed preliminary agreements with DCNS of France and Gibbs and Cox of the United States for ship design collaboration to increase exports. According to Saxena, a deal with Finland to design and manufacture ice cutters is in the works.