VOC Port Authority officials hold talks with Hyundai group’s HD-Korea Shipbuilding on setting up facility at Thoothukudi

The VOC Port Authority on Thursday had a meeting with HD-Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (Hyundai group) to explore possibilities of setting up a ship building facility at the port town of Thoothukudi in Southern India.

The Authority’s Chairperson, Susanta Kumar Purohit along with a team of senior officers had a meeting with HD-Korea’s officials. The meeting was facilitated by the Ministry of Port, Shipping and Waterways & Invest India.

The meeting comes at the backdrop of the Union Budget proposing to facilitate ‘Shipbuilding Clusters’ to increase the range, categories and capacity of ships. This will include additional infrastructure facilities, skilling and technology to develop the entire ecosystem.

Already, a Maritime Development Fund – with a ₹25,000-crore corpus – has been announced, while phase-II of the Shipbuilding Financial Assistance Policy (SBFA 2.0) with a ₹18,000-crore outlay, is awaiting Cabinet nod. Both were mentioned in the Budget.

businessline earlier reported that Shipping Ministry officials recently visited Asian nations – South Korea and Japan – to bring in investments for shipbuilding. Beyond land, which is a State subject, the Ministry is looking to incentivise or help push for additional capex for providing breakwaters, and so on.

VOC Port has a land bank of over 4,000 acres to develop port-led industries.

According to ICICI Director, in 2024, the Indian shipbuilding industry was valued at $1.12 billion, which is a significant jump from the valuation of $90 million in 2022. Since it is in its nascent stage, the industry currently accounts for less than a 1 per cent of the global shipbuilding market.