Scindia Shipyard Limited
| A Govt. of India undertaking, Ministry of Defence | |
| Industry | Ship Building |
| Founded | 22 June 1941 |
| Founder | Seth Walchand Hirachand |
| Headquarters | Visakhapatnam, India |
|
Key people
|
Rear Admiral L.V. Sarat Babu, NM, Chairman & MD |
| Services |
Ship Building Ship Repairs Submarine Construction and Refits |
| Website | www |
Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL) is a shipyard located in Visakhapatnam on the east coast of India.
Founded as the Scindia Shipyard, it was built by industrialist Walchand Hirachand as a part of The Scindia Steam Navigation Company Ltd. Walchand selected Vishakhaptnam as a strategic and ideal location and took possession of land in November 1940. The World War II was going on and in April 1941, the Japanese bombed the town. However, Walchand was unfettered and decided to go ahead with his plan of building a shipbuilding industry in India. In the days when it was unthinkable of foundation ceremony to be done by anyone other than British officials, the truly patriotic Walchand decided to break the tradition and the foundation stone for the shipyard was laid by Dr. Rajendra Prasad on 21 June 1941, who was acting Congress President at that time. 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 by the first Prime Minister of India, 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 flourish under next of kins of founders. However, later on the government of India decided to nationalise the Scindia Shipyard, as it was a sensitive and strategic sector related to defence sector of the country. The shipyard was finally nationalised in 1961 and renamed Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL).
In 2010, HSL was transferred from the Ministry of Shipping to the Ministry of Defence. The yard played a critical role in the development of nuclear-powered, Arihant class submarine.
The shipyard is relatively compact at 46.2 hectares (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.
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Wikipedia