HD Hyundai said on the 8th that it signed an exclusive memorandum of understanding on the construction of a new shipyard on the 7th in Madurai, Tamil Nadu in southern India, with Chief Minister Stalin, Minister Raja of the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI), and Choi Han-nae, head of planning at HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, in attendance. The industry's expected investment scale comes to $2 billion (about 2.9 trillion won).
The Indian government, aiming to become the world's No. 5 shipbuilding and maritime power, is actively reviewing expansions of existing shipyards and the construction of new ones. The Tamil Nadu state government, prioritizing attracting a shipyard to boost the local economy while expanding incentives and subsidies, infrastructure build-out, and efforts to secure skilled talent, finally selected HD Hyundai as its partner for the new shipyard project. HD Hyundai said the investment scale and method have not yet been decided.
Tamil Nadu is one of five states mentioned as candidates for a new shipyard, along with Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh. The industry views it as an optimal site because its temperature and rainfall are similar to Ulsan's. Nearby port facilities are also slated for large-scale investment, raising the possibility of future business expansion. Korean corporations such as Hyundai Motor and Samsung Electronics have also entered the market.
Early this month in the southern Indian city of Bengaluru, HD Hyundai also signed a memorandum of understanding with BEML (Bharat Earth Movers Limited), a state-run corporation under the Ministry of National Defense, to expand cooperation in the crane business. BEML engages in defense and aerospace equipment, mining and construction heavy equipment, and railway and subway rolling stock.
Through this agreement, HD Hyundai plans to expand cooperation with BEML across the entire crane manufacturing process, including design, production, and quality verification, to secure port crane manufacturing capabilities in India. It also plans to broaden its business scope by supplying goliath cranes and jib cranes to local Indian shipyards going forward.
HD Hyundai Samho, an institutional sector affiliate in HD Hyundai's shipbuilding division, supplied a 600-ton-class goliath crane to Cochin Shipyard Limited in February.
An HD Hyundai official said, "India is a market with strong government will to foster the shipbuilding industry and promising growth potential," adding, "We will continue to expand cooperation with India in shipbuilding and offshore to make it a new growth engine."