Bharati, Apeejay Form Shipbuilding JV

Bharati Shipyard Ltd. and unlisted Apeejay Shipping Ltd. said they would invest Rs 2,000 crore in an equal joint venture to set up a modern shipbuilding yard along India’s eastern coast, according to a Reuters report. While Indian shipbuilders are expanding their capacities with buyouts of other yards and assets, Indian shipping and engineering firms are planning to set up shipbuilding yards to exploit the sector’s surging potential. The proposed shipyard, expected to start operations in 2009, would build superior ships of high tonnage and also cater to the ship repairing business of existing shipping firms globally, Bharati said in a statement. Bharati Shipyard, which has orders worth Rs 4,430 crore, owns three shipyards in India and is building the fourth one in Mangalore. Its group subsidiary, Pinky Shipyard, owns one yard in Goa. Earlier this year, Bharati Shipyard bought assets of 130-year-old Swan Hunter (Tyneside) Shipyard Ltd. from England. [Source: Reuters]