Hindustan Shipyard

Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL) is a public sector undertaking shipyard located in Visakhapatnam, on the east coast of India.^[3] HSL is a major shipyard in India, with a capacity to manufacture vessels up to 80,000 deadweight tonnage (DWT). The shipyard is the 2nd biggest after Cochin Shipyard.

46,259 DWT ship named MV Goa built by Hindustan Shipyard in 1997

Hindustan Shipyard Limited

Company type	Public Sector Undertaking
Industry	Shipbuilding
Founded	21 June 1941 (1941-06-21)[1]
Headquarters	Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh , India
Key people	Commodore Hemant Khatri (retd.), CMD
Services	Ship building Ship repair Submarine Construction and Refits
Revenue	₹1,118.45 crore (US$130 million) (2023)[2]
Operating income	₹65.24 crore (US$7.6 million) (2023)[2]
Net income	₹65.24 crore (US$7.6 million) (2023)[2]
Total assets	₹1,483.35 crore (US$170 million) (2023)[2]
Total equity	₹−478.93 crore (US$−56 million) (2023)[2]
Owner	Government of India
Number of employees	1473 (March 2019)
Website	hslvizag.in

History

Founded as the Scindia Shipyard, it was built by industrialist Walchand Hirachand as a part of The Scindia Steam Navigation Company Ltd.^[4] Walchand selected Visakhapatnam^[5] as a suitable location for the construction of the yard and took possession of the land in November 1940.^[6] The foundation stone for the shipyard was laid by Dr. Rajendra Prasad on 21 June 1941, who was at that time the acting Congress President.^[6][7]

The first ship to be constructed fully in India after independence was built at the Scindia Shipyard and named Jal Usha. It was launched in 1948 by Jawaharlal Nehru at a ceremony where the families of Seth Walchand Hirachnd, late Narottam Morarjee, and Tulsidas Kilachand, the partners of Scindia Shipyard, were present along with other dignitaries and industrialists.

Walchand died in 1953, and the Scindia Shipyard continued to operate successfully under the next of kin of the founders. However, in 1961 the shipyard was nationalised and renamed Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL).

In 2010, HSL was transferred from the Ministry of Shipping to the Ministry of Defence. ^[8]

In 2022, Hindustan Shipyard Limited registers highest value of production in its history. the value of production from shipbuilding remained at ₹613 crore marking it as the highest value of production recorded from shipbuilding division in the history of the shipyard.^[9]

In April 2025, The shipyard got a profitable turnover in close to four decades after years of narrow losses.The shipyard aims to achive the miniratna status.^[10]

Ships built by the company

INS Dhruv built by HSL

• Nand Rati(1984)
• Lok Rajeswari(1988)
• MV Goa(1997)
• Tamilnadu(2000)
• MV Good Princess(2008)
• MV Good Pacific(2008)
• Good Precedent(2011)
• Indian Grace(1978)
• Indian Glory(1978)
• Indian Explorer(1976)
• TS Rajendra(1972)

Facilities

Aerial View of HSL

The shipyard is relatively compact at 46.2 ha (0.462 km²). It is equipped with the plasma cutting machines, steel processing and welding facilities, material handling equipment, cranes, logistics and storage facilities. It also has testing and measuring facilities.

It has a covered building dock for building vessels up to 80,000 DWT. There are three slipways and a 550 m (1,800 ft) fitting-out jetty.^[11]

HSL has a dry dock, wet basin and repair delphin for ship and submarine repair and retrofitting.^[12]

Vessels

By 2009, over 192 vessels had been built at HSL through 2009 and the shipyard had repaired almost 2000 ships. It builds bulk carriers, offshore patrol vessels, survey ships, drill ships, offshore platforms and repair and support vessels.^[4]

It also conducts major overhauls of Indian Navy submarines, and is being equipped to construct nuclear-powered submarines. However, the shipyard has a history of protracted refits. The submarines Vela, Vagli, and Sindhukirti each spent almost 10 years for a single refit at HSL. Where a Russian shipyard would deploy 200 workers in three shifts to complete the refit in two years, HSL deployed only 50 workers to work on Sindhukirti.^[13]