Kolkata | Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday asserted that India is capable of becoming a global shipbuilding hub, as he virtually laid the foundation stone for five expansion projects of the Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers, and Yantra India Ltd, from Kolkata.

Singh was accompanied by West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari during the foundation-laying ceremony here.

Speaking on the occasion, Singh said foundation was laid for five projects worth nearly Rs 3,500 crore in West Bengal.

“India is capable of becoming a global shipbuilding hub. There is a vacuum occurring in the global shipbuilding industry, and India can capture this opportunity,” he said.

The projects comprise three facilities of GRSE and two of Yantra India.

Singh also said that the West Bengal government will take steps to usher in a “new renaissance of development”.

“The news of closures and lockouts of factories in West Bengal has now been replaced by the launch of new projects,” the defence minister said.

A GRSE official said that as part of its capacity expansion, the company has signed lease agreements with the Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port, Kolkata (SMPK) for two small shipyards on either bank of the Hooghly, along with a 32-acre riverside property at Raichak, to enhance capabilities in warship construction and refit.

“These projects will strengthen the capabilities of GRSE, while supporting the revival of West Bengal’s industrial ecosystem through employment generation and increased opportunities for ancillary industries, particularly MSMEs,” he said.