Bharati Shipyard, Apeejay Shipping Enter JV

Mumbai-based Bharati Shipyard and Apeejay Shipping have signed a 50:50 joint venture agreement for setting up large modern shipbuilding yard along the eastern coast. According to sources at Bharati Shipyard, they are in the process of finalizing the site and will be able to announce the location in the coming weeks. The shipbuilding venture between a reputed shipbuilder and a leading shipping company is expected to commence operations by first quarter of 2009. Bharati and Apeejay would jointly invest in the state of the art technology and modern shipbuilding and ship repair facilities and would have the capacity to build and repair vessels of all sizes up to VLCC. The JV will see an investment of Rs 2,000 crore in the new shipyard. Talking about the association with Apeejay Shipping, Bharati Shipyard managing director V Kumar said that the complimentary skill sets bring immense value to the JV and that they expect growing demand, especially from energy and commodity sectors. [Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com]