Thiruvananthapuram, The Government of Keralam will lease 18.16 acres of land to Cochin Shipyard in Kochi for a ship block building project involving an investment of around Rs 5,000 crore, Chief Minister V D Satheesan said on Tuesday. Today, in the Cabinet meeting, we have taken an important decision. We have decided to lease 18.16 acres of land at Ramanthuruth, near Kochi city, to Cochin Shipyard Limited(CSL). The purpose is to construct ship blocks, he told a press conference here.The chief minister said the Cochin Shipyard is planning an investment of Rs 5,000 crore in the land, which is located on an island close to the city.The project is expected to create around 2,000 direct jobs, besides generating more employment opportunities indirectly, Satheesan said.The land, located on an island close to Kochi city, will be leased for the project involving Cochin Shipyard, he said.The government will receive an annual lease amount of Rs 1.45 crore. Including GST, the annual revenue from the lease will be around Rs 1.70 crore, Satheesan said.The proposal had been pending for some time and was cleared after discussions with Cochin Shipyard, the Chief Minister said. After this government came to power, we discussed it with Cochin Shipyard and took a decision quickly. It is an important decision. Cochin Shipyard is a Central PSU, he said.Describing the decision as an important one, Satheesan said the investment would bring large-scale employment and could also support further development opportunities in Kochi.The project is expected to give a boost to the state's shipbuilding sector and attract further investment, he said.Sources at the state-run shipbuilder said it proposes to set up a large block fabrication facility to support ship construction and speed up production, At the proposed Block Fabrication Facility (BFF), steel blocks will be pre-outfitted, painted and finished before being transported as large sections to the new dry dock at Cochin Shipyard, the sources said.Ships will be assembled and constructed at the new dry dock using the fabricated blocks, they said.Faster availability of ready-to-use steel blocks will help the shipyard reduce construction time and accelerate the delivery of vessels, sources added.
