India eyes shipbuilding big league as Cochin Shipyard, HD Hyundai near $500 million JV

India’s long-held ambition to become a serious shipbuilding nation on par with giants such as China, South Korea, and Japan may finally get off the starting blocks in the second half of 2026, at a time when the Asian shipyards are packed with orders, with waiting periods stretching into several years.In the first instance of a global shipbuilding giant investing directly in core shipbuilding infrastructure in India, state-run Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) and South Korea’s HD Korea Shipbuilding and Offshore Engineering (HD KSOE)—part of the HD Hyundai Group—are in final stages of forming a joint venture to set up a $500-million manufacturing facility in Kochi, with both partners contributing equally.CSL’s chairman and managing director, Jose V.J. said a CSL team would visit South Korea this month to finalise the deal.

A team from HD Hyundai Group has already conducted site visits and preliminary assessments, according to Jose.“We are expecting an agreement with HD Hyundai Group in the second half of 2026 to set up a joint venture that would invest close to ₹4,500-5,000 crore initially to set up a ship block fabrication facility near CSL’s existing shipbuilding facility that also includes a 310-metre dry dock in Kochi,” Jose said.A block fabrication facility or BFF manufactures ship blocks—large sections of a ship’s hull—that are then assembled in a dry dock.The joint venture’s BFF will be set up on about 80 acres of land leased to CSL by Cochin Port Trust in Kerala. With an estimated annual capacity of 120,000 metric tonnes, the BFF is expected to generate around 2,000 direct jobs and significantly higher indirect employment across MSMEs, logistics, supply chains and ancillary industries.By producing ship blocks at the