India's state-run HSL is expecting an order from the Indian Navy by the end of the year to start constructing five fleet support ships with Turkish help
Turkey will provide an Indian state-run company with technology to build five auxiliary ships for the Indian Navy, according to a report published by the Hindustan Times on Monday.
The main facility of India’s Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL) in the southern city of Visakhapatnam is expecting an order from the Navy by the end of the year to start constructing five fleet support ships (FSS) with a technology transferal from the Istanbul-based Anadolu Shipyard, a partner of the TAIS industrial group.
“The agreement with the Turkish consortium will kick in after HSL gets an order from the Indian Navy. If all goes well, that could happen by October 2021. Several Indian vendors will also be involved in the project,” said a source, who has direct knowledge of the matter but declined to be identified.
The TAIS (Turkish Associated International Shipyards), founded by the owners of the top five leading shipyards in Turkey, won the Indian Ministry of Defense’s cooperation tender to design and build five 45,000-ton fleet support ships in May 2019.
As part of the some $2 billion deal for technical collaboration, Anadolu Shipyard was tasked with providing design and technical assistance, and supplying key machinery equipment (KME).
Unlike other similar broad projects, the Turkish shipyard decided to lead the collaboration and construction of the vessels at the HSL facility to support the “Make in India” initiative.
“Turkey’s shipyards are fully booked for a long time and there is nothing to lose by transferring technology and having all the vessels built in India. Turkish engineers will come to India to assist with the project,” a source said.
Sameer Patil, a fellow for international security studies at Gateway House, praised Turkey’s development of bilateral relations under the leadership of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, saying: “Turkey under President Erdogan has focused on building commercial relations with all countries. India wants to build its naval capabilities and Turkey has a defense industry that is very advanced.”
India's Hindustan Shipyard Limited aims to deliver its first fleet support ship in 4 years and the rest of the vessels within a year.
