GRSE expects order book to soar over Rs 27,000 cr

Kolkata, March 30 (IANS) State-run Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) is expecting that its present order book would go up to over Rs 27,000 crore with the signing of a Rs 5,500 crore contract for making eight warships, an official said on Saturday.

"Currently, the company has an order book of Rs 21,700 crore approximately. 14 ships across five projects including four large survey vessels are under construction. Hopefully, we should be signing a Rs 5,500 crore contract for supplying eight Anti Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft in the next one month," company's Chairman and Managing Director V.K. Saxena said.

GRSE had embraced modernisation with an investment of Rs 605 crore for creating an integrated shipbuilding facility enabling concurrent construction of 20 ships, he said.

"The capex plan for the current fiscal was Rs 50 crore and we are planning to spend Rs 150 crore of capex in the next financial year. We have also planned to expand our capacity at the Rajabagan Dockyard at an estimated investment of Rs 100 crore for a period 3-4 years. By 2022, we expect our capacity should go up to 24 ships construction concurrently," Saxena told reporters here.

The shipbuilder is targeting a four-fold increase in the value of production in the next 4-5 years with an increased thrust on export of warships and incorporation of latest technologies including Artificial Intelligence, machine learning and data analytics in its operations, he said.

"We are looking for application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for mostly in design, planning and supply chain management. We are in a dialogue with IIT Kharagpur and we are also talking to start-ups and private companies which have competence in AI," he said.

The Mini Ratna PSU on Saturday handed over its 100th warship, a Landing Craft Utility L56, to the India Navy.

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