TWL begins journey as private shipyard

Titagarh Wagons Ltd today marked its journey as a major private shipyard in West Bengal beginning with construction of four ships worth Rs 175 crore.

"We are the first major private shipyard in Bengal with our two orders of four ships. We will continue to focus on defence and specialised ships," TWL managing director Umesh Chowdhary said.

Bengal has Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Ltd under the defence ministry and is engaged into building warships and vessels for defence requirements.

Chowdhary said that the company was working towards ramp up capacity for construction of 12 ships simultaneously to make the facility at Titagarh a dedicated shipyard.
 

Titagarh in North 24 Parganas was capable of building ships only upto 100 meter long due to factors including Howrah Bridge preventing passing of large ships, company chairman J P Chowdhary said.

TWL was planning to develop a shipbuilding facility at Kulpi in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district in addition to its Titagarh shipyard on a land parcel of 50 acres in the second phase of the project, he said.

The company has signed a contract with National Institute of Ocean Technology under Ministry of Earth Sciences for design, construction and delivery of two high end coastal research vessels valued at Rs 100 crore.

It also inked a contract with Ministry of Defence (Navy), Directorate of Ship Production, for making two 1000 T fuel barges worth Rs 75 crore, which will support the INS Vikramaditya, Indian Navy's flagship aircraft carrier.

The ships will be delivered in the maximum time-frame of 27 months.

TWL forayed into shipbuilding through acquisition of city based Corporated Shipyard having required licenses and technical capability for the venture.