Bharati Defence and Infrastructure Limited (formerly Bharati Shipyard Limited) is one of the largest

shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other Watercraft, floating vessels. In modern times, it normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation th ...

companies in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

History

Bharati Shipyard Limited (BSL) was founded in 1973 in

Ratnagiri Ratnagiri (IAST:Ratnāgirī ; �ət̪n̪aːɡiɾiː is a port city on the Arabian Sea coast in Ratnagiri District in southwestern Maharashtra, India. The district is part of Konkan division of Maharashtra. The city is known for the Hapus or ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

by Prakash C. Kapoor and Vijay Kumar, graduates of the Ocean Engineering & Naval Architecture program at

Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur The Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IIT Kharagpur or IIT-KGP) is a Public university, public institute of technology, research university, and autonomous institute established by the Government of India in Kharagpur, West Bengal. Foun ...

, as well as colleagues at

Mazagon Dock Limited Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) (IAST: ''Majhagānv Dawk Shipbuilders Limiṭeḍ''), formerly called Mazagon Dock Limited, is a company with shipyards situated in Mazagaon, Mumbai. It manufactures warships and submarines for the Indian ...

. The company went public in December 2004, with listings on the

Bombay Stock Exchange BSE Limited, also known as the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), is an Indian stock exchange based in Mumbai. It is the 6th largest stock exchange in the world by total market capitalization, exceeding $5 trillion in May 2024. Established with t ...

and the National Stock Exchange. In 2005, BSL subsequently acquired a 51% stake in privately held ''Pinky Shipyard Private Limited'' based in

Goa Goa (; ; ) is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the ...

. In 2009, BSL won majority control of Great Offshore Limited in a bidding war with ABG Shipyard Limited. In November 2010, BSL acquired a majority stake in South India based Tebma Shipyards for INR 757.5 Million. BSL bought the entire equipment and infrastructure of the iconic British shipyard,

Swan Hunter Swan Hunter, formerly known as Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson, is a shipbuilding design, engineering, and management company, based in Wallsend, Tyne and Wear, England. At its apex, the company represented the combined forces of three pow ...

, in 2007, after it declared bankruptcy. In 2015, the shipyard group found itself heavily indebted and in severe financial difficulties. In developing a restructuring plan, the Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction Company acquired 70 per cent of the debt from the lending banks and, as an indication of a desire to concentrate on defence business, the company's name was changed in 2015 to Bharati Defence and Infrastructure Limited. In January 2019 the

National Company Law Tribunal The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) is a quasi-judicial body in India that adjudicates issues relating to Indian companies. The tribunal, established under the Companies Act 2013, was constituted on 1 June 2016 by the government of India a ...

declared the restructuring proposals from Edelweiss to be unacceptable and ordered the company's liquidation.

Facilities

Bharati Shipyard is headquartered in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

. It operates shipbuilding facilities in

Dabhol Dabhol (Marathi pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, ̪aːbʱoɭ, also known as Dabul, is a small seaport town in the Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra in India. It is located on the northern and southern sides of the Vashishti River, Vashishth ...

Mangalore Mangaluru (), formerly called Mangalore ( ), is a major industrial port city in the Indian state of Karnataka and on the west coast of India. It is located between the Laccadive Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bengaluru, the st ...

and

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

. It has structural quality assurance facilities at Ghodbunder Road in

Thane district Thane district (Pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, �ʰaːɳe previously named Taana or Thana) is a districts of Maharashtra, district in the Konkan Division of Maharashtra, India. At the 2011 Census it was the most populated district in the c ...

. Its subsidiary, '' Pinky Shipyard'', has shipbuilding facilities in

. Its subsidiary, ''Tebma Shipyard'', has shipbuilding facilities in

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

and

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

. BSL's

yard is one of the largest in

, spread over 300 acres. In 2007, BSL bought the entire equipment and infrastructure, of bankrupt British shipyard Swan Hunter. The infrastructure, including the iconic cranes and the floating dock, was dismantled, transported to India, and installed at BSL's Dabhol yard.

Products

''Bharati Shipyard'' builds

jackup rig A jackup rig or a self-elevating unit is a type of mobile platform that consists of a buoyant hull fitted with a number of movable legs, capable of raising its hull over the surface of the sea. The buoyant hull enables transportation of the unit ...

s, platform supply vessels, tractor and ASD tugs,

dredger Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing dam ...

s, deep sea fishing vessels,

bulk carrier A bulk carrier or bulker is a merchant ship specially naval architecture, designed to transport unpackaged bulk cargo—such as Grain trade, grain, coal, ore, steel coils, and cement—in its cargo holds. Since the first specialized bulk carrie ...

cargo In transportation, cargo refers to goods transported by land, water or air, while freight refers to its conveyance. In economics, freight refers to goods transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. The term cargo is also used in cas ...

and

container ship A container ship (also called boxship or spelled containership) is a cargo ship that carries all of its load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. Container ships are a common means of commercial intermodal ...

s, tankers and

roll-on/roll-off Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, Trailer (vehicle), trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their ...

vessels. In March 2009, it was awarded a contract to build 15 high-speed

interceptors An interceptor aircraft, or simply interceptor, is a type of fighter aircraft designed specifically for the defensive interception role against an attacking enemy aircraft, particularly bombers and reconnaissance aircraft. Aircraft that are cap ...

for the

Indian Coast Guard The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) is a maritime law enforcement and search and rescue agency of India with jurisdiction over its territorial waters including its contiguous zone and Exclusive economic zone of India, exclusive economic zone. It was st ...

References

{{reflist Shipbuilding companies of India Manufacturing companies based in Mumbai 1973 establishments in Maharashtra Indian companies established in 1973 Manufacturing companies established in 1973 Companies formerly listed on the National Stock Exchange of India Companies formerly listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange