Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders to acquire a 51% controlling stake in Colombo Dockyard PLC (CDPLC) for around ₹452 crore.
Colombo Dockyard, listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange, builds and repairs ships from its base at Graving Dockyard, Colombo, a key location linking the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal shipping lanes.
The deets: the stake will be bought from Japan’s Onomichi Dockyard Co. via a mix of primary subscription and secondary purchase. Once completed, CDPLC will become a subsidiary of Mazagon Dock.
For the year ended December 2024, CDPLC reported:
- Turnover: LKR 25,447 million
- Net worth: LKR 5,311 million
Why it matters: Mazagon Dock, a Ministry of Defence undertaking, is known for building submarines, warships, and specialty vessels. This acquisition gives it a foothold in Sri Lanka’s ship repair and building market, and expands its operational synergies in a vital maritime corridor.
The company said the deal supports its long-term growth vision and reinforces its presence across regional shipping and defence ecosystems.
Big theme: India’s shipbuilding and repair sector serves both commercial shipping and the defence ecosystem. Major state-run players like Mazagon Dock, Cochin Shipyard, GRSE, and Hindustan Shipyard build everything from cargo vessels and dredgers to advanced warships and submarines.
In FY24, India’s shipbuilding order book crossed ₹40,000 crore, and defence contracts remain a key revenue driver.
The country has over 30 shipyards, and the government is actively pushing to make India a global ship repair hub, leveraging its long coastline and strategic location along busy shipping lanes.