Hooghly dock & port engineers Ltd. (HDPEL), Nazirguange Works

In today's HDPEL you shall find quality of worklife, new vigour, new energy, new hope and confidence. To provide value added service to the customers strictly within the time schedule is our only goal. HDPEL is now totally focussed and our bottomline is to serve existing and prospective customers to their fullest satisfaction. We are also now fully geared to build energy efficient and cheaper mode of river transport to be an integral part of development of river transport for vast potentials available to develop Inland Water Transport in the line of the thrust of efforts by the Central Government to develop waterways for navigation with necessary infrastructure such fairway, terminals, navigational aids and fleet so that Inland Water Transport can flourish and compete.

Cabinet approves improved VRS for HDPEL employees

The union cabinet on Wednesday approved introduction of an improved Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) for the employees of Hooghly Dock and Port Engineers Limited (HDPEL) and restructuring of the company through a joint venture (JV).

"The improved VRS package is based on IDA 2007-linked pay scale. The improved VRS scheme would be open for three months with a provision of extension by another one month. After the implementation of the improved VRS, JV formation with the private sector would be attempted failing which the company would be disinvested," an official statement issued after a meeting of the union cabinet here said.

Implementation of the improved VRS package would substantially reduce the manpower of HDPEL and would help in down-sizing. Thereafter, HDPEL would become amenable to restructuring, it said.

The current VRS package is at the old pre-revised scale. Therefore, implementation of an improved VRS package would provide better retirement benefits to the HDPEL employees who opt for it, the statement said.

The decision will take care of employees' welfare as well as prevent recurrent loss to the public exchequer, it added.

Hooghly Dock & Port Engineers Limited

Multipurpose Tug

BUILT FOR DREDGING CORPORATION OF INDIA LTD. AT NAZIRAUNJE WORKS, HOWRAH lntended for rendering services :- 1. Bollard Pull – 20 T 2. Dislodging of 15 T Delta Anchor and handling of the same through Anchor handling and Towing Winch 3. 15 T Crane used for loading & unloading and occasional use for Grab Dredging. Principal Dimension: LOA – 42.3 M. LBP – 38.5 M. Beam – 12.0 M. Depth – 4.5 M. Draft – 3.0 M. Crane – 15Tat10M. Speed – 9 Knot.

Lighthouse Tender Vessel

Lighthouse Tender Vessel MV Sagardeep- ll delivered to Directorate General of Lighthouses and Lightships Govt. Of lndia on 27.09.2002

Passenger Vessel

400 Passenger-cum-100 Tons Cargo Vessel delivered to A & N Admin

Crane Pontoon

Built and delivered to lnland Waterways Authority of lndia 1. To assist loading / unloading of cargo from jetty to vessel & vice versa. 2. Embarkation / Disembarkation of passengers. 3. LOA – 35.0 M., Beam – 8.0 M, Depth – 1.6 M

Bollard Pull Tug

30 ton Bollard Pull Tug MV-BirSingha delivered to KoPT

Hydraulic Surface Dredger

Hydraulic Surface Dredger delivered to IWAI

Cargo Vessel

300 Ton Cargo Vessel delivered to IWAI

HDPEL plans JV to avoid disinvestment

Hooghly Dock and Port Engineers Ltd (HDPEL) proposes to find a joint venture (JV) partner to avoid disinvestment, Mr Manish Jain, HDPEL Chairman, said.

The effort to float a JV company was being taken after the Ministry of Shipping had served an ultimatum to the company to find a partner by next year or face disinvestment.

The request for qualification (RFQ) for the JV would attract both global and domestic companies once it was floated, Mr Jain said.

This is especially important in the context of Indo-Bangladesh maritime traffic projected to increase momentously in the coming years.

While HDPEL would become a shell company, the JV would take over the ship construction, repair and related activities and operate on 30 acres of leased land and other assets of the sick PSU, it is learnt.

HDPEL has already completed an internal survey about the strengths and potential of the planned JV where the government would have a 24 per cent stake, implying increased control for the private entity.

It may be recalled that the Prime Minister, Mr Narendra Modi, had signed an agreement with Bangladesh in June this year on coastal shipping for two-way trade and renewed the 1972 Protocol on Inland Waterways Transit and Trade which uses the two countries’ waterways for commercial purposes.

West Bengal: Government to give Hooghly Dock and Port Engineers Ltd to private players

NEW DELHI: The Narendra Modi government wants to push ahead with plans to get unviable public sector companies off its hands by selling them or forming joint ventures with investors that can run them profitably.

Toward this end, it's planning to sweeten a retirement offer as part of efforts to privatise Kolkata based Hooghly Dock and Port Engineers Ltd (HDPEL), a shipyard almost 200 years old and among India's oldest. A note in this regard is being drafted for the cabinet's consideration, said a senior government official.

A similar plan was approved last week for the near-defunct Central Inland Water Transport Corp. (CIWTC), another Kolkata-based company. To be sure, the West Bengal government may not be too enamoured of the asset-sale plans, particularly since it has a prickly relationship with the Central government.

Hooghly Dock is among seven companies identified for revival through disinvestment or a JV. "These are locked up assets and government is paying salaries for nothing.

We want to incentivize people to opt for retirement with a better severance package," a senior government official said. The government feels Hooghly Dock has enough assets to attract private sector investors even though it has built just two ships in last four years.

Kolkata Port Trust has already engaged HR Wallingford of London for suggesting measures to improve the draft at Hooghly Dock as well reducing dredging costs, which will add to attractiveness of the company as an investment target.

In October 2011, the government had given in-principle approval for rehabilitation cum restructuring of Hooghly Dock through a joint venture with a private company selected through open bidding process that was launched in 2013. It also approved writing off of government loans and interest payments amounting to Rs 629 crore as of March 31, 2011.

Three companies submitted expressions of interest on forming a JV— Shalimar Works, Titagarh Wagons and Bharti Shipyard. However, a report by Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS) suggested that unless staff numbers were cut, the government would have to continue funding the company and it would not be able to bring down its stake.

The government is targeting to halve Hooghly Dock's 380 employees through an improved staff-reduction package, which has better severance terms than the earlier plan, according to the official cited above. It then plans to cut its stake to 26% from 100% by taking on a private partner.

The company has two units, one at Salkia and the other at Nazirgunge, both in Howrah district. The Modi government has said it wants to exit lossmaking government ventures and allow them to be managed profitably and professionally.

In 2011, the government approved grants-in-aid assistance of Rs 21crore for Hooghly Dock to implement VRS, apart from a loan of Rs 16 crore for working capital and non-plan assistance for salaries and meeting statutory liabilities until formation of a joint venture.

Company Overview of Hooghly Dock & Port Engineers Limited

Hooghly Dock & Port Engineers Limited, a shipyard company, engages in ship building and repairing in India. It constructs a range of vessels, such as marine crafts, barges, tugs, dredgers, floating dry docks, fire floats, fishing trawlers, landing crafts, coasters, and grab hopper and surface dredgers, as well as light house tender, inland and ocean going, oil pollution control, offshore patrol, multipurpose-cum-buoy handling, and passenger vessels. Hooghly Dock & Port Engineers Limited was formerly known as Hooghly Docking & Engineering Company Limited. The company was founded in 1819 and is based in Kolkata, India.

Cabinet okays improved VRS for Hooghly Dock & Port employees

NEW DELHI: Government today approved improved Voluntary Retirement Scheme for the employees of Hooghly Dock and Port Engineers Ltd and restructuring of the company through a joint venture.

"The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi today approved the introduction of an improved Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) for the employees of Hooghly Dock & Port Engineers Limited (HDPEL) and restructuring of the company through a Joint Venture (JV)," Ministry of Shipping said in a statement.

After the implementation of the improved VRS, JV formation with the private sector would be attempted, failing which, the company would be disinvested, it said.

Implementation of the new VRS package would substantially reduce the manpower of HDPEL and would help in downsizing. Thereafter, HDPEL would become amenable to restructuring, the release said.

The scheme would be open for three months with a provision of extension by another one month, it said. "The improved VRS package is based on IDA 2007 linked pay scale."

The current VRS package, it said, is at the old pre-revised scale, therefore, implementation of an improved scheme would provide better retirement benefits to the HDPEL employees.

This decision will take care of employees' welfare as well as prevent recurrent loss to the public exchequer, it added.

The HDPEL has two units, one in Salkia and other in Nazirgunge located on the banks of the Hooghly River. However, both units have been suffering heavy losses.

Approval for improved Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) for the employees of Hooghly Dock & Port Engineers Limited and restructuring of the company through Joint Venture (JV)

The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi today approved the introduction of an improved Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) for the employees of Hooghly Dock & Port Engineers Limited (HDPEL) and restructuring of the company through a Joint Venture (JV). The improved VRS package is based on IDA 2007 linked pay scale. The improved VRS Scheme would be open for three months with a provision of extension by another one month. After the implementation of the improved VRS, JV formation with the private sector would be attempted failing which the company would be disinvested.

Implementation of the improved VRS package would substantially reduce the manpower of HDPEL and would help in downsizing. Thereafter, HDPEL would become amenable to re-structuring.

The current VRS package is at the old pre-revised scale, therefore, implementation of an improved VRS package would provide better retirement benefits to the HDPEL employees who opt for it. This decision will take care of employees' welfare as well as prevent recurrent loss to the public exchequer.

Background:

The HDPEL was established in 1819. Subsequently, in 1973, it merged with Port Engineering Works, which had been under the control of Andrew Yule Ltd. The Company was nationalized in 1984 as per the Hooghly Dock & Engineer Company (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertaking) Act, 1984 and was renamed as Hooghly Dock & Port Engineers Ltd. The HDPEL has two units, one in Salkia and another in Nazirgunge located on the banks of the Hooghly River. However, both units of the company have been suffering heavy losses.

The Centre is toying with the idea to induct a strategic partner and give up its majority control in Hooghly Dock & Port Engineers Ltd (HDPEL) to revive the city-based sick public sector unit, adopting an innovative model that will skirt privatisation.

The company, engaged in shipbuilding and repairing, will lease out its assets to a joint venture entity in which a private company will have a majority stake (76 per cent) and full operational and managerial freedom. HDPEL will become a shell company and earn rent apart from holding 26 per cent in the joint venture.

The company, engaged in shipbuilding and repairing, will lease out its assets to a joint venture entity in which a private company will have a majority stake (76 per cent) and full operational and managerial freedom. HDPEL will become a shell company and earn rent apart from holding 26 per cent in the joint venture.

"Hooghly Dock is closed now. We are trying to restructure and revive it with foreign collaboration," Gadkari said at an interactive session organised by the MCC Chamber of Commerce & Industries.

Established in 1817 on the banks of Hooghly, HDPEL is one of the oldest shipyards in India. After suffering heavy losses, it was taken over by the Centre through an act of Parliament in 1984. The company has two manufacturing facilities in Salkia and Nazirgaunge (near Botanical Garden) with 216 employees on its rolls. However, the Centre has announced a lucrative voluntary retirement scheme and all the employees are likely to opt for it.

"It is not possible to privatise the PSU given the political sensitiveness attached to it. So the ministry is toying with this innovative model where a private firm can have operational and management freedom but the ownership will remain with the government," a source said.

Under the NDA government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, several PSUs such as Indian Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd, IBP and Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd were privatised. However, the UPA government junked the idea and resorted to piecemeal stake sales in state-run companies such as Coal India without giving up majority control. The Narendra Modi-government has so far not indicated that it will take the privatisation route.

As a result, this two-tier structure is being considered where holding company HDPEL will see no dilution. However, the business will in effect be run by the joint venture, which will pay rent for the 30-acre river-facing plot and associated infrastructure. The chairman and the managing director will also be selected by the private firm.

The minimum annual rent for the unit is likely to be around Rs 4.3 crore.

"The shipping ministry is clear that it is more interested to revive the company and utilise the national asset than earning rent from it," sources said. The joint venture will get the asset on 30-year rent with the option of extension for another 30 years.

The facilities can be used to build barges, small ships and hovercraft apart from repairing work. "There is a lot of latent demand in Bengal. With the focus on coastal shipping and inland waterways, demand for barges and ships will only go up. Moreover, there is requirement to repair them," industry observers said. However, the tender will come at a time of overcapacity in ship-building capacity globally.

At the MCC meeting, Gadkari today launched the recently built fly ash handling jetty, a stacker cum reclaimer and refurbished lock entrance besides laying the foundation stone for a floating storage cargo-handling facility at Haldia Dock Complex through a remote control.

The private company will be selected through a global tender where precedence will be given to technology.

Hooghly Dock to form JV with pvt shipbuilder

Hooghly Dock and Port Engineers Ltd (HDPEL) in West Bengal will be restructured into a shell company and will form a joint venture with a private shipbuilder to manufacture, maintain and repair ships.

This move comes after HDPEL was served an ultimatum by the shipping ministry to either float a JV or face disinvestment

HDPEL, in turn, will lease its land and assets to the planned JV for 30 years which can be extended upon necessary approvals. Furthermore, only 24 per cent of the stake in the JV will remain with the Centre, thereby equipping the private partner with managerial control. Besides shipbuilding and repairing, the private partner will have the additional responsibility of promoting tourism in inland and coastal waters. In case the ailing vessel maker fails in this attempt, it will be disinvested.

The ministry in September this year also improved the voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) for the shipbuilder's employees. So far, of its 314 workers, 80 have opted for the scheme.

According to a company executive, the employees have to opt for the improved VRS by January. The fate of those who do not opt for the scheme remains uncertain as the ministry is yet to take a call in this regard.

Manish Jain, chairman of HDPEL, is, however, confident of roping in a private partner. Given its 800 metre waterfront in Nazirguange and Salkia on the banks of the Hooghly river, he said the request for quotation for the JV would attract global and Indian companies. “All we need is a partner that has the technological edge,” he told Business Standard.

He said Indo-Bangladesh maritime traffic (cargo and passenger vessels) was poised to lead growth in shipping in the east which, in turn, would increase demand for shipbuilding.

According to professional services company KPMG, trade between India and Bangladesh was valued at $6.9 billion during 2014-15 and was expected to double to $10 billion by 2018. “The share of the eastern coast ports of the total cargo handling capacity for Indian ports is expected to increase to 40 per cent over the next 4-5 years,” Prahlad Tanwar, director, transport and logistics at KPMG in India, told this newspaper.

The east coast ports in India handled about 370 million tonnes of cargo in 2014-15 out of the total 1,051 million tonnes handled by all ports in India.

“If we need to handle more cargo in inland waters and increase Indo-Bangladesh maritime traffic, we need to have the latest technology,” Jain said.

In June this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi signed an agreement with Bangladesh on coastal shipping and renewed the 1972 protocol on inland waterways transit that uses the two countries’ waterways for commerce. A memorandum of understanding was also signed for using Chittagong and Mongla ports in Bangladesh for movement of goods to and from India.

Asked about the interest the move would generate among private shipbuilders in India, P R Govil, advisor to the Shipyards’ Association of India said, “The equipment at HPDEL is too old and there needs to be a concrete policy on shipbuilding from the Centre.”

He said private shipbuilding majors in the country would not be interested in participating in the forthcoming tender.

Established in 1819 and nationalised in 1984, HDPEL has been suffering recurring losses for 10 years.

Hooghly Dock & Port Engineers Limited

Ship Building

The Company has two units ideally located at Salkia and Nazirgunge on the bank of River Hooghly in the city of Howrah and well connected with Kolkata. Both these units have the required infrastructure and potential for construction of various types of vessels, viz. Tugs, Dredgers, Floating Drydock, Fire Float, Fishing Trawlers, grab Hopper and Surface Dredgers, Light House Tender Vessels, Oil Pollution Control Vessel, Passenger Vessel etc.

Repair & Support

Our ship repair division with its Drydock at our Salkia Works – an ISO 9001 unit (Drydock measuring 94 M X 13.4 M x 8.6 M deep) & with facilities like Jetties, Building Slipways / Berths / Wet Basin, Cranes etc, we are well equipped to undertake repairs of any size vessels / marine crafts to the fullest satisfaction of customers. We also have facilities to undertake emergency repair jobs at Kidderpore and Haldia.

Joint Venture

The Company has two units ideally located at Salkia and Nazirganj on the bank of River Hooghly in the city of Howrah (in the State of West Bengal, India), which is well connected with city of Kolkata. Both these units of HDPEL have the required infrastructure and potential for construction of various types of vessels, viz. Tugs, Dredgers, Floating Drydock, Fire Float, Fishing Trawlers, grab Hopper and Surface Dredgers, Light House Tender Vessels, Oil Pollution Control Vessel, Passenger Vessel etc.