BL reported that Chennai headquartered Tebma Shipyards Ltd is going slow on its capacity expansion program though it is not affected by economic slowdown. Mr PK Balan chairman of Tebma told Business Line that “The company had plans to set up two shipyards in eastern and western costs. Though offshore vessel building segment is not affected by the slowdown, availability of finance is an issue. Therefore, the company has decided to take one step at a time.”
Mr Balan foresees better growth in the first half of this fiscal due to commencement of deliveries. This will help raise loans from banks for the construction of shipyard at latter part of this year. Tebma secured orders to build 12 vessels under this scheme, and in couple of weeks, it will deliver the first to a Norwegian client. The other 11 will be delivered by the end of 2010. In addition, the company has orders for 22 vessels from a host of clients, including Inland Waterways, Cochin Port Trust and Indian Navy. Currently, the company has steel fabrication facilities at Chengalpattu near Chennai, Malpe near Udupi in Karnataka, Kochi and a leased facility in Kolkata. It has firmed up plans to build a shipyard at Dahej, Gujarat. The Gujarat Maritime Board has given the company 100 acres.
