• Investment World
• eWorld
• Brand Line
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest
• The New Manager

Stocks

• Quotes
• SE Diary
• Scoreboard
• Open-End Mutual Fund

Cross Currency

• Rates
  
  

Shipping

• Ports
  
  

Archives

• Yesterday
• Datewise
• Resources
• In Focus
• In Depth

Group Sites

• The Hindu
• The Hindu ePaper
• Business Line
• Business Line ePaper
• Sportstar
• Frontline
• The Hindu eBooks
• The Hindu Images

Ch. R. S. Sarma

With two other big projects in the region hanging fire, the people of Kakinada are hoping the L&T terminal will come to pass.

Larsen &Toubro plans to set up a shipyard at Kakinada and has applied to the Centre and the Andhra Pradesh Government for permissions.

The news has been greeted with some degree of scepticism, not unwarranted in view of the recent developments, at Kakinada, in particular, and the State, in general.

This is the third major project proposed at Kakinada in the past six-seven years. The first, an LNG terminal proposed during the Telugu Desam regime, has been shelved.

The second one, a port-based oil refinery and a special economic zone, is hanging fire, as ONGC, the major promoter, is having second thoughts on the economic feasibility of the project.

Now comes the news that L&T is planning the shipyard and people of Kakinada are keeping their fingers crossed.

The L&T Chairman and Managing Director, Mr A. M. Naik, met Mr M. M. Pallam Raju, Union Minister of State for Defence, in New Delhi recently and discussed the proposed shipyard project.

The shipyard is mainly for building vessels required for defence needs and also for L&T which is engaged in major construction and engineering projects. L&T also plans to build LNG carriers, survey ships, and offshore vessels at the proposed shipyard.

The company requires more than 600 acres and it is also seeking SEZ status for the project.

These issues came up for discussion at the meeting Mr Naik had with Mr Pallam Raju.

The scale of investment may be around Rs 1,000 crore. If everything goes well, the project may be completed by 2010. But the big question is: Will everything go well?

The people of Kakinada and East Godavari district are hoping for the best, as the project will give a great fillip to the economy of the region and the two ports — the Kakinada deepwater port as well as the old port — will benefit by it.

More Stories on : Shipping | Diversification | Larsen & Toubro Ltd

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Loading on more

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line