Seoul/New Delhi, Dec 8 (IANS) HD Hyundai, South Korea’s leading shipbuilding conglomerate, said on Monday it has signed a preliminary agreement with the Tamil Nadu government to build a new shipyard.

The central government earlier suggested five candidate states — including Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh — for the project. HD Hyundai selected Tamil Nadu as the most suitable location for the new shipyard, a company spokesperson said, reports Yonhap news agency.

The Tamil Nadu government, which has made establishing a shipyard a top priority to revitalise the local economy, chose HD Hyundai as its project partner and plans to offer incentives and subsidies for the project, the company said in a press release.

HD Hyundai said it selected the Thoothukudi region of Tamil Nadu because its temperature and rainfall patterns are similar to those of Ulsan, the South Korean port city that houses HD Hyundai’s shipyards.

The state is also home to major Korean companies, including Hyundai Motor Co. and Samsung Electronics Co., and large-scale investments are under way for nearby port facilities, further raising expectations for future business expansion, the release said.

“India is a market with strong growth potential, supported by the government’s firm commitment to nurturing the shipbuilding industry. We will continue expanding cooperation with India in the shipbuilding and offshore sectors and foster it as a new growth engine,” an HD Hyundai official said.

The Indian government is promoting the “Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision 2047” with the goal of becoming one of the world’s top five shipbuilding and shipping nations.

India sees South Korea as a strong partner in its efforts to expand shipbuilding capacity and strengthen maritime security, Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal, said last month, underscoring New Delhi’s ambition to become one of the world’s top five shipbuilding nations by 2047.

In an interview with Yonhap News Agency, Sonowal also stressed that South Korea’s experience in achieving rapid economic transformation offers critical lessons for India as it pursues its “Viksit Bharat 2047” vision, the country’s key initiative aimed at becoming a developed country by the 100th anniversary of its independence.

As part of the initiative’s maritime goal, New Delhi seeks to become one of the world’s top ten shipbuilding countries by 2030 and ultimately one of the top five by 2047. The government plans to invest $24 billion in the initiative and to expand its commercial fleet from 1,500 to 2,500 vessels to strengthen self-reliance.

Achieving such targets will require international partnerships, the minister noted, saying South Korea’s advanced shipbuilding technology and experience in building “reliable and timely ships with high quality specifications” makes the country an essential partner for India, according to the Yonhap report.

“South Korea’s unique strengths: precision engineering, liquefied natural gas (LNG) expertise and highly efficient production systems can accelerate India’s climb up the global shipbuilding ladder,” he said.

—IANS

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