DCI aims to become a world-class firm with `3K cr turnover in 5yrs
A 12k cubic meters Trailer Suction Hopper Dredger is now under construction at Cochin Shipyard Limited
DCI undertaking beach nourishment project in Visakhapatnam after obtaining a Rs83-crore contract from Visakhapatnam Port Authority for three years
Visakhapatnam: After several twists and turns ,Visakhapatnam-headquartered Dredging Corporation of India Limited, popularly known as DCI is celebrating its golden jubilee year with a corporate plan for becoming a premier world-class dredging company by increasing its turnover from Rs1,148 crore in FY25 to Rs3,000 crore in the next five to six years through a multipronged approach.
Making its baby steps from a rented premises in Swagruha Mansion and later moving to LIC building and a premises owned by Visakhapatnam Port Authority (VPA), DCI today functions from its own building. It has an order book worth Rs1,400 crore with a massive diversification and capacity augmentation plan in place. DCI, which was brought under strategic control of a consortium comprising Visakhapatnam, Paradip, Deen Dayal and Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authorities in 2019 by picking up 73.47 per cent on payment of Rs1,056 crore, comes under the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW).
As part of fleet augmentation, a 12,000 cubic meters Trailer Suction Hopper Dredger, the first in the Beagle series as part of strengthening its capacity, is now under construction at Cochin Shipyard Limited. "We are expecting it to become operational in all likelihood in October this year," DCI Managing Director and CEO Capt S Divakar, who recently took over the post, says. He is confident of a bright future ahead with a plethora of opportunities to explore in the field of reclamation, capital dredging, desiltation of river beds.
Not only in India, the company also plans to strengthen its presence abroad. It has already taken up reclamation and other projects in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Taiwan and Bangladesh in the past five years. With the ports necessitating handling bigger size vessels like cape and super cape and panamax ships and container liners, the need for having deeper draft has increased manifold in India.
Under the Sagarmala project, the Centre is investing Rs5.8 lakh crore in 840 projects. These are expected to be completed in 2035. Of these, projects worth Rs.1.41 lakh crore to modernise ports, improve connectivity and give a fillip to port-led development, have been completed, Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal said at the India Maritime Week. The Sagarmala initiative has led to a 118 per cent surge in coastal shipping and 700 per cent in inland waterway traffic.
Capt Divakar, during a media interaction on the eve of golden jubilee formation day celebration on March 29, said the decision of the 11 major ports has created a huge opportunity for dredging due to the requirement to deepen the draft to meet their goal to become globally competitive.
Desiltation of dams and reservoirs, dredging of rivers and ports have thrown up a huge opportunity for DCI to increase its reach and penetrate deep into various areas."We may have to procure specialised vessels to facilitate laying undersea cables for data connectivity and onshore windmills," he disclosed.
