DCIL to sign MoUs worth Rs12,000 crore at GMIS

Visakhapatnam Dredging Corporation of India Limited (DCIL), a public sector organisation under the administrative control of four major ports comprising Visakhapatnam, Paradip, Deendayal (Kandla) and Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authorities, is getting ready to sign MoUs worth Rs 12,000 crore for collaboration with international players to undertake overseas assignments, inland, beach nourishment and other types of dredging and charter dredgers to strengthen its fleet at the three-day Global Maritime India Summit (GMIS)-2023.

The summit, which will attract delegates from all over the world, is scheduled to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 17. The theme of the summit is connect, collaborate and create.

On Monday, DCIL Managing Director and CEO Capt. S Divakar said on the sidelines of a virtual roadshow as a prelude to the summit that the company will explore collaborative opportunities with global players like Deme Group and Jan De Nul of Belgium, VanOord of Netherlands, and NMDC from United Arab Emirates.

DCIL currently has 10 dredgers with a combined capacity of 59,000 cubic meters, which can be used to undertake 65,000 million cubic meters of dredging per annum. With chartered dredgers, the company can increase its dredging capability by another 20 to 25 million cubic meters per annum.

DCIL has already signed a MoU with Inland Waterways Authority of India for increasing draft in Brahmaputra and three other rivers in the North Eastern States. DCIL, which earned an all-time revenue of Rs 1156 crore with a net profit of Rs 15 crore during last fiscal, has set a target to achieve a turnover of Rs 1300 crore and double the profit margin during FY24.

The MD said talks are in progress to get dredging contracts for the proposed ports at Mulapeta (Bhavanapadu), Kakinada, Ramayapatnam and Machilipatnam. He said they were holding negotiations with the AP Maritime Board (APMB) for undertaking dredging up to 150 million cubic metres. APMB is developing the new ports to increase the handling capacity for export and import cargo from Andhra Pradesh with a total investment of Rs 16,000 crore in next three years.

Divakar said DCIL accounts for 80 per cent market share in India by meeting almost 60 per cent of requirements with its own fleet and 20 per cent with 10 chartered dredgers. The company will explore hiring another 10 to 12 cutting suction dredgers on a long-term contract to undertake inland dredging assignments.