L&T seeks subsidy extension for ship building

Larsen & Toubro, the country's largest engineering firm, has sought an extension of the subsidy policy for the ship building industry.

"There is a need to extend the subsidy policy for the ship-building industry," L&T Chairman and Managing Director A M Naik said after meeting Finance Minister P Chidambaram here on Tuesday.

"We discussed our entry into new areas such as power plant manufacturing and boilers. We also discussed L&T's venture into the ship building business and support from the government for this sector," Naik said.

Naik added that there were hardly any ship builders to take advantage of the present subsidy policy, which comes to an end in September this year.

Responding to a question on rupee appreciation, Naik said the rupee appreciation had given further advantage to the Chinese industry. "The government should put an anti-dumping duty of 20 per cent until China free floats its currency," he said.

The Chinese yuan is artificially pegged low. "India's capital goods industry is suffering because of that," he added.

Meanwhile, L&T has secured an order of Rs 114.43 crore from Steel Authority of India for the turnkey 220/132 kV gas-insulated sub-station project and associated transmission network for SAIL's Bhilai steel plant in Chhattisgarh.