- Published 2026.11.04 11:32
Minister Sonowal meets HD Hyundai Chairman Chung Ki-sun over mega shipyard plan
Joint working group to draft detailed report within six months
The Indian government is pushing to build a mega shipyard in the country at a cost of $4 billion (about 5.5 trillion won). Sarbananda Sonowal, India's Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, made an official visit to HD Hyundai Heavy Industries' Ulsan shipyard. His visit to Korea is expected to pave the way for HD Hyundai to become a lead investor in building India's shipbuilding infrastructure.
According to a social media post by India's Directorate General of Shipping on Nov. 4, Minister Sonowal visited the HD Hyundai Heavy Industries shipyard in Ulsan the previous day to discuss ways to strengthen maritime cooperation between the two countries. Earlier, Sonowal met with HD Hyundai Chairman Chung Ki-sun in Seoul to discuss the next steps for a new shipyard project in Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu.
The Thoothukudi project is a mega shipyard construction initiative led by the Indian government. At the meeting, HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, HD Hyundai's intermediate holding company for its shipbuilding business, reaffirmed its intention to participate as a strategic investor in the shipyard's construction. The two sides agreed to form a joint working group to oversee the project's development and to complete a detailed project report within six months.
India is accelerating cooperation with HD Hyundai to meet rapidly growing domestic demand for ships. Indian public institutions plan to secure more than 400 vessels in the coming years. The Thoothukudi mega shipyard, with an annual capacity of 2.5 million gross tonnage, will play a pivotal role in building ships for the domestic market as well as for export.
Shipbuilding cooperation between the two countries gained momentum on April 20 this year, when HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering signed a memorandum of understanding with Tamil Nadu's National Shipbuilding Industrial Park during the Korean president's state visit to India. Since then, HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering has conducted on-site due diligence and worked continuously with India's central and state governments.
At his meeting with Chairman Chung, Minister Sonowal said, "The MOU we signed is the foundation of what we intend to build together in Thoothukudi. The construction of a new shipyard with a $4 billion investment is an important milestone, and we are fully committed to supporting it."
※ This article is an AI translation of the Korean original published by Korea Credit News; it was checked by automated quality guards and published by the English edition desk.
