Japan drops anchor at Alang with Rs 100 cr. in wallet

After earmarking investments for the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC), Japan and the Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB) have signed a Rs 100-crore memorandum of understanding (MoU) to upgrade Alang shipyard to international requirements by way of technology transfer and financial assistance.

This will be done on a public-private partnership (PPP) basis and will be completed in 3 years.

Both sides will upgrade the recycling yards, construct and operate a common hazardous waste removal pre-treatment facility, develop ways to add value to steel products with electric furnace (re-rolling mills and modernisation of recyclable goods market) and cultivate human resource capacity," said a GMB official.

A consortium of the Japan government, the Japan External Trade Organisation and the Japan Development Institute will first conduct a feasibility study of the set-up and suggest upgradations.

The shipyard dismantles about 250 ships every year and, after upgradation, this will go up to 350. Currently, the yard produces 3.5-4 million tonnes of steel annually from dismantling. Its turnover is estimated to be Rs 5,000 crore.

Japan owns 15-20 per cent of the ships in the world.

Says Mr Pankaj Kumar, Vice-Chairman and CEO of GMB, "it is a win-win situation for the stakeholders, including the governments of Gujarat and Japan, and agencies of ship recycling industries.

"The PPP model will be selected in such a manner that proper weightage is given, which will be acceptable to the stakeholders also," he adds.

Source : Exim News Service - Gandhinagar, Feb. 8