India’s first indigenous Hydrogen-fueled electric vessel is likely to be delivered by March-April next year, said Chairman and Managing Director of Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) Madhu S Nair as reported by new agency ANI.
Addressing a press conference in Kochi on Thursday, Nair said that the construction of India’s first indigenous hydrogen-fueled electric vessel is a pilot project. “We have completed the engineering of the project and the construction will begin very soon as the order for equipment required is placed,” he added.
He informed that the fuel cell will be produced by a Pune-based organization relying on Indian technology and the delivery is expected by March-April next year.
The CMD was also asked about the ship-lift based shipyard, to which he replied that the estimated figure at Wellington Island in Kochi is ₹970 crore.
“For this project, we have taken 42 acres of land on lease for 30 years, where the ship lift-based shipyard will be built. This is only for medium-sized ships with a maximum length of 130 metres, a width of 25 metres and a weight of 6,000 tons,” he stated.
In addition to this, a parking facility for six such ships and a one-and-a-half-kilometre berth will also be there, he said, adding that the 77% of the project has been completed so far, despite a delay due to Covid-19 pandemic.
“Once the project is commission next year, Kochi will be called a ship repair hub. Now, we are repairing 100 ships per year, but after this, we will repair around 150-160 ships per year,” Nair said.
He said that the project will also lead to an economic growth as it will provide employment opportunities to at least 3,000 people in the shipyard. “At present, we have 9,000 employees in the shipyard, and were doing two expansion projects in Kochi worth ₹2,800 crore,” he added.
Nair informed that they currently have 14 defence orders worth ₹6,500 crore and have also signed the next generation missile vessels worth ₹9,000-10,000 crore, adding that they have they have taken orders for eight ships from Germany as well.
(With ANI inputs)
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