Russia to help India build shipbuilding, ship-repairing clusters in Mumbai, Chennai

New Delhi: The forthcoming summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Vladimir Putin in New Delhi early next month may see both sides discussing Russia’s participation in establishing shipbuilding and ship-repairing clusters in India, particularly in Chennai and Mumbai.

“It would be reasonable to consider establishing shipbuilding and ship-repair clusters with Russian participation in such important economic areas as Mumbai or Chennai,” Aide to the President of Russia and Chairman of the Maritime Board of Russia, Nikolay Patrushev, said in New Delhi.

Patrushev is on a visit to New Delhi for the preparation for the Modi-Putin summit, which is likely to be held early next month. He met National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, National Maritime Security Coordinator Vice Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta, in addition to Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal.

The two sides discussed the development of bilateral cooperation in the civilian maritime sector, with a focus on collaboration in shipbuilding, port infrastructure and maritime logistics. They discussed the issues related to crew training as well as research activities in the exploration of the “World Ocean”.

"We can offer India interesting initiatives in shipbuilding, including providing existing or developing new designs for fishing, passenger and auxiliary vessels. We have extensive experience in creating specialised ships — such as ice-class vessels, not to mention icebreakers, where Russia has no rivals whatsoever,” Patrushev said in New Delhi. “There are opportunities for our cooperation in green shipbuilding, which is currently one of India's main priorities in the maritime domain.”

He noted that Russia had accumulated significant innovative potential in shipbuilding. “For many decades, the Krylov State Research Centre has been operating in St Petersburg. Its activities are continuously being improved. In the near future, it is planned to establish a national research centre on its basis, under whose aegis many scientific organisations in this field will operate,” said the aide of Putin.

He said that the work on creating a joint database of standardised shipbuilding designs was highly promising, as it would allow India to significantly reduce the costs of modernising its fleet.