HD Hyundai is moving ahead with plans for a new shipyard in India, as it looks to add a major production base in the country’s south.
The company said on the 8th that it signed an exclusive agreement covering plans for a new shipyard in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, in southern India. The signing took place in the presence of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Stalin, State Industries Minister Raja and Choi Han-nae, Head of Planning at HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering. While the expected investment size and future equity structure were not disclosed, industry observers expect the project to involve spending in the trillion-won range.
For HD Hyundai, the Indian initiative forms part of a broader strategy to expand its global production base. The group is already building a joint shipyard in Saudi Arabia, has resumed local production in the Philippines and has started joint production in Peru. The latest move is also in line with the Indian government’s recent policy focus on developing shipbuilding and the wider maritime sector.
New Delhi is advancing the “Maritime Amrit Kahl Vision 2047” with the goal of becoming the world’s fifth-largest shipbuilding and maritime power. To that end, the government is looking at both enlarging existing yards and building new ones, backed by subsidies and related policy support. HD Hyundai was the first Korean company to receive a formal approach from the Indian authorities.
The Indian government has shortlisted several coastal states, including Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh, as candidates for new yard locations and is working to identify the most suitable sites. Tamil Nadu’s state government, which has prioritised attracting a shipyard to support regional economic growth, selected HD Hyundai as its partner for the new yard project after setting out a package of incentives, including subsidies, infrastructure upgrades and measures to secure skilled workers.
Within Tamil Nadu, Thoothukudi is one of the candidate locations under review. The area is seen as favourable because its climate and rainfall patterns are similar to those in Ulsan, home to the core shipyard of HD Hyundai Heavy Industries in South Korea. Tamil Nadu also hosts major Korean investors such as Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor, and large-scale investment is planned for nearby port facilities, offering room for future business expansion.
To support the prospective shipyard, HD Hyundai signed a “business agreement to expand crane business cooperation” with BEML in early December in Bengaluru, southern India. BEML, a state-owned enterprise under India’s Ministry of Defence, produces defence and aerospace equipment, mining and construction machinery, and rail and metro vehicles, and operates several production bases in southern India, including Bengaluru and Kolar. Under the agreement, HD Hyundai intends to build up port crane manufacturing capabilities in India by working with BEML across the full production chain from design and manufacturing through to quality verification. The company expects to supply gantry cranes and jib cranes to the planned local shipyard over time, broadening its crane business in the region.
Separately, HD Hyundai signed an MOU in July with Cochin Shipyard, India’s largest state-owned shipbuilder, to cooperate on design and procurement support, productivity improvements and human resources development. The scope of that partnership has recently been extended to include warship projects.
An official from HD Hyundai said that India has become an important focus market with strong government backing for the shipbuilding industry, adding that the group plans to keep expanding cooperation with Indian partners in shipbuilding and marine projects so it can establish India as a new growth engine.
