Ship recycler GMS and steelmaker Jindal Steel and Power (JSPL) have bid for India’s insolvent shipyard Reliance Naval and Engineering (R-Naval), according to local media. The company licensed to build warships boasts of having one of the world’s largest dry dock facilities.
JSPL is interested in the company’s port base and aims at acquiring (R-Naval) as a captive consumer of its shipbuilding plates. VR Sharma, MD JSPL confirmed the company’s interest in Reliance Naval to Bloomberg.
R-Naval owes Rs43,5870mn ($5,987) to financial creditors due to which the company is under bankruptcy proceedings and is being sold to repay debt. The shipyard has a 2.1mn sq ft shipbuilding and ship repair facility with an annual capacity of 144,000mt.
Earlier, Russian state-owned United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) and Danish shipping company AP Moller Maersk and 10 other firms had expressed interest in (R-Naval). Maersk is keen on expanding its terminal business, while USC aims to build submarines for Indian Navy at the facility. JSPL, GMS and others registered to submit their bid ahead of the Feb 28 deadline.
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