ABG Shipyard, Adani plan maritime institutes

After three years of building castles in the air, the state government has finally swung into action for anchoring shipbuilding and maritime institutes in Gujarat.

This comes at a time when one more Vibrant Gujarat Summit 07 is just round the corner.

Senior state government officials met top officials of ABG Shipyard, Adani group and Nirma group on Wednesday to chalk out plans for setting up maritimes institutes in the state.

Nirma and Adani had signed MoUs with the state government during the Vibrant Gujarat Summit 2003 for setting up maritime institutes. Nirma, finding out the non-feasibilty of the project, has decided to back out, according to sources close to the development.

The meeting held on Wednesday was attended by the chief secretary along with Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB) officials and principal secretary of higher and technical education.

When contacted, Rishi Agarwal, managing director, ABG Shipyard, who was present at the meeting said, "We had talks with the state government and have decided to set up an institute, however the project is in a very initial stage."

ABG Shipyard, according to industry sources, has sought 25 acre of land near Surat, which is close to their existing shipbuilding facility in Magdalla.

The company is also planning to tie up with South Gujarat University to start courses in shipbuilding, maritime and naval architecture, sources informed. The entire project is estimated to cost Rs 100 crore and will be in a phased manner.

The institute will offer diploma courses initially and will then go in for degree courses. The government has plans to start the courses by the next academic session, sources informed.

ABG Shipyard is also not ruling out a possible tie-up with a foreign institute. The state government has asked the two companies to scout for land, which would be given to them at a nominal rate.

Adani group has meanwhile sought 7 to 8 acre of land and is scouting for it on the Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar route. Adani is planning to set up a port management and infrastructure institute.

Jayesh Buch, president, corporate affairs, Adani group, said, "We envisage a PG diploma course institute and may go for some tie-up. The courses will focus on port management, logistics management and all-round infrastructure development."

We had initially planned to set up an institute at Mundra Port. However, the government has asked us to have it in the Knowledge Corridor, revealed sources in Adani group. The entire project is likely to cost Rs 50 to Rs 200 crore depending on the area, sources further informed.

The officials of Nirma were unavailable for comment.

GMB handled 110 MMT last year, according to a spokesperson of GMB. The total throughput is 70 per cent of all the minor and major ports of India while GMB has handled 20 per cent of the total national cargo, he said.

The state is expected to handle 32 per cent of the national cargo by 2010 and 50 per cent of the manufacturing facilities in the state will be along the 1,600 km coastline of Gujarat, according to a senior official of GMB. There is a dearth of professionals in marine and shipbuilding activities, he further added.

According to a Crisil report, Gujarat is likely to handle 40 per cent of the country's cargo by 2020.

In Maharasthra, there are institutes in Pune, Mumbai and Lonawala offering courses in shipbuilding and maritime activities, whereas Kochi, Chennai and Vizag also have similar intitutes in the south.