The Andhra Pradesh Maritime Board wants the maritime and ship-recycling industries to come on board to help make its vision to build India’s first non-beaching, European-standard ship-recycling facilities a reality.
Ravindranath Reddy, the board’s deputy chief executive, said he has been pounding pavements worldwide, drumming up investment interest in the project.
Reddy has been in discussions with several shipowners, with what he describes as sizeable fleets, who regularly sell ships for scrap but have difficulty finding recycling yards that are compliant with the regulations stipulated by their flag states.
“There are a number of companies whom we are in touch with, who have said they are looking for this kind of yard,” he said. “It shows there is demand for this kind of yard.
“On the other hand, it can be very synergistic for any of the players in the game, not just shipowners. It can be synergistic for steel mills, which can utilise the scrap metal. We are in touch with some of them, discussions have been initiated.”
Alang’s ship recyclers have also been approached. Reddy described their response as “cautious”.
“I’d like a group of them to invest,” he said. “We are giving them an opportunity to expand their business. They can be our investors, either in part or in full. We are very much open to that.
“Their response was cautious, no doubt about it, because this is a new idea that they haven’t considered yet. They are taking their time to digest it, but I get a feeling that some of them are considering [it].”
Reddy added that the Andhra Pradesh government is on board and could be an enabler by awarding concessions, which is the preferred method with its ports. It could also assist with financing.
“The government is not backing away from putting in part of the finance,” he said.
Reddy added that he is in the process of working out the technicalities of the project’s timeline.
He admitted he was impatient about getting the first recycling facility up and running.
“We can’t wait forever,” he said. “I have the feeling that a glut of tonnage is going to happen within months, so I want to start this thing as soon as possible.”
