from Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Panaji (GA)

Panaji, Aug 27: India's one of the leading shipyards on the western coast, Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL), has envisaged an extensive modernization plan which will be executed by mid-2011.

"In order to meet the future challenges and remain competitive in domestic as well as global market, the company has embarked upon a planned modernization project to augment its infrastructure and facilities," GSL's chairman and managing director Rear Admiral A K Handa stated.

The shipyard, which is a major ship-building yard for Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard, has expected to triple its production capacity by mid-2011 once the modernization is in place.

He said that the value of production would also increase significantly post-modernization, adding up to the profits.

The GSL in its annual general body meeting held on Wednesday August 27 felt that the year that has passed by saw tremendous improvement over the previous years and scaled new heights since its inception in 1957, the spokesman said.

The company figures revealed that during the financial year 2007-08, the company has achieved highest Value of Production (VoP) eversince its inception of Rs 317.21 crore as compared to Rs 267.07 crore, which is up by 19% over the previous year. 

The yard earned a profit before tax  of Rs 106.93 crore as compared to Rs 66.05 crore last year, while the net profit after tax stood at Rs 69.97 crore as against Rs 40.69 crore in the previous year. 

Handa said that during the year, the company created yet another historical milestone by delivering the biggest ever Advanced Offshore Patrol Vessel (AOPV) ICGS 'Sankalp', indigenously designed in house and built by the company.  

"In its quest for self-reliance in sophisticated shipbuilding, the company launched the sixth AOPV built for Indian Coast Guard," the CMD said.

The GSL also received repeat orders from Indian Navy for construction of fourth Naval Offshore Patrol Vessel and second Sail Training Ship.

With a healthy order book position of Rs 3470 crore, the Company is confident of achieving the production target of Rs 425.76 crore for the fiscal year 2008-09 with optimum capacity utilization as per the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by the GSL with the Government of India, he said.