South Korea's HD Hyundai to build billion-dollar shipyard in Tamil Nadu, calls it 'second Ulsan'

South Korea's largest shipbuilder, HD Hyundai, will be constructing a new Korean-style shipyard in Tamil Nadu's Thoothukudi after it inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the state government on Sunday.

The shipbuilder said that the project was aimed at creating a "second Ulsan" by integrating a Korean shipbuilding ecosystem into Tamil Nadu's manufacturing ecosystem, that already involves over a hundred major Korean companies.

Ulsan is a bustling industrial city in South Korea where HD Hyundai is headquartered. The port city of Thoothukudi is touted to be similar to Ulsan in a number of ways, including weather conditions, investments in port infrastructure, its proximity to deep water, and the presence of the V.O. Chidambaranar Port.

Though the proposed shipyard is said to involve an approximately $2 billion investment, HD Hyundai has stated that the size and structure of the investment are still under evaluation.

Tamil Nadu had been one of the four states selected for the new shipyard development, along with Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh.

Over the past few months, HD Hyundai has been actively investing in India's maritime ecosystem. 

The shipbuilder on Friday announced that it had signed an MoU with defence ministry-owned Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML) for building India's next generation port-crane ecosystem. Specifically, the MoU with the BEML was signed by HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, an intermediate holding company of HD Hyundai's shipbuilding division, and HD Hyundai Samho, a shipbuilding subsidiary.

In collaborating with the BEML throughout the crane manufacturing process, HD Hyundai's larger objective is to expand its business by supplying Goliath cranes and jib cranes to Indian shipyards.

In July this year, HD Hyundai also signed an MoU with Kerala-based Cochin Shipyard for long-term cooperation, including technology transfer and joint project acquisition.

This is a major boost for India's maritime sector, in line with its grand aims to become a global maritime superpower under the India Maritime Vision 2030 and the Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision 2047.

"India is a market with promising growth potential due to the government's strong commitment to fostering the shipbuilding industry. We will continue to expand our shipbuilding and maritime cooperation with India to leverage it as a new growth engine," an HD Hyundai spokesperson said, as per a Chosun Ilbo report.