Bengal to revive 135-year-old Shalimar Shipyard

It was a major ship-repair unit on the entire east coast its heyday

West Bengal will revitalise the 135-year-old Howrah-based Shalimar Shipyard which, during its heyday, was a major ship-repair unit on the entire east coast but has witnessed stagnation in the recent decades. Though the facility still manufactures vessels, including for the Navy, it has long been overtaken by other players — both government and private — in the business. The original shipyard was established by Turner Morrison in 1885 and, after Independence, changed hands several times before being taken over by the government of West Bengal in 1980. “We are looking at Shalimar seriously because restructuring will make it profitable, and that will be a feather in the cap of the State government. So far it was run by retired people, but to re-energise it we have now appointed a young IAS officer [Transport Corporation MD Rajanvir Singh Kapur] as its new chairman,” Transport Minister Firhad Hakim said at the site on Monday.