L&T protests naval project to Mazagon Dock
Engineering conglomerate Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has written to the NITI Aayog, raising concerns over the proposed award (on a nomination basis, not by competitive tender) of a submarine project to government- owned Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd, according to sources.
“The company has written with two concerns. One, there should be a level playing field. Second, public sector shipyards are already over-burdened and facing delivery delays,” said a source, on condition of anonymity. He added, the company has said such awards will not be in the national interest, as a result.
Officials at L&T declined to comment. An e-mail query sent to Mazagon Dock was not answered.
In April, media reports suggested, Mazagon Dock would be awarded the ~520-billion ‘Project
75 India’ programme that involves building six advanced submarines. The project, industry officials add, was earlier scheduled to be awarded under the Strategic Partnership policy.
Under that, the government was to select one private sector company each as a strategic partner. Which in turn was expected to invest and develop a long term eco-system to deliver certain projects. Under the policy, fighter aircraft, helicopters, submarines and armoured fighting vehicles were identified. “Not much action has been seen on the policy so far,” said an industry official.
L&T, according to a person quoted earlier, chose to write to NITI Aayog with reference to the Make In India programme, which aims to promote private investment across sectors, including naval defence. The past decade saw L&T invest and develop its defence shipyard at Kattupalli in Tamil Nadu. The shipyard has been ready for operations since 2012 but continues to be a drag on L&T’s financials, due to lack of big defence orders.
In April, reports suggested, Mazagon Dock would be awarded the ~520-bn ‘Project-75 India’ programme