Indian and overseas shipyards are battling to land a $95m ferry order for Kochi Metro Rail.
Domestic builder Cochin Shipyard and L&T are up against Dutch group Damen and Dubai's Grandweld to build 23 aluminium ships.
German Bank KfW is providing an INR 5.76bn ($81m) loan, with state funding amounting to INR 1bn.
The vessels must be ready by December as part of an INR 7.5bn transport project for the Kochi region.
Financial bids are expected by 26 February.
The ferries will travel at 10 knots and carry 100 passengers.
Another tender will later be held for 55 50-passenger vessels for the end of 2020.
The first batch of ships will cover a 76km range, covering 16 routes.
A total of 38 terminals will be built for them.
The plan is to move them all to solar power by 2021.
