$2 billion mega deal! HD Hyundai to build shipyard in Tamil Nadu — a game changer for India

The company has signed an agreement with the Tamil Nadu government, positioning itself as a key contender to become India’s official partner in the country’s ambitious shipyard development programme.

The shipyard is planned to be built in Madurai, located in southern Tamil Nadu. However, details regarding the scale, structure, and investment model for India’s shipyard development remain under discussion.

The agreement marks a significant step in India’s push to become the world’s fifth-largest shipbuilding and maritime powerhouse, with Tamil Nadu being one of four shortlisted states alongside Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh.

In particular, the Thoothukudi region of Tamil Nadu—cited as one of the candidate sites for the new shipyard—is regarded as an optimal location, with temperature and rainfall conditions similar to those of Ulsan, Korea, where HD Hyundai Heavy Industries is located.

It already hosts major Korean companies such as Hyundai Motor Company and Samsung Electronics, and large-scale investments are planned for nearby port facilities, further strengthening expectations for future business expansion.

Earlier this month, HD Hyundai also signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the collaboration for maritime and port crane development in India with BEML (Bharat Earth Movers Limited), a state-owned enterprise under the Indian Ministry of Defence, in Bengaluru, southern India.

Headquartered in Bengaluru, BEML operates in various sectors including defense and aerospace equipment, mining and construction equipment, and railway and metro vehicles. The company also has multiple manufacturing bases in southern India, including Bengaluru and Kolar.

Through this agreement, HD Hyundai plans to strengthen collaboration with BEML across the entire crane manufacturing process—including design, production, and quality assurance—aiming to gradually build port crane manufacturing capabilities within India.

Looking ahead, the company also plans to expand its business by supplying goliath and jib cranes to local shipyards in India.

In relation to this, HD Hyundai Samho, a shipbuilding affiliate of HD Hyundai, successfully delivered a 600-ton Goliath crane to Cochin Shipyard, India's largest state-owned shipbuilder, in February of this year.

In addition, in August, HD Korea Shipbuilding and Offshore Engineering, the intermediary holding company for the shipbuilding division, announced it would acquire HD Hyundai Eco Vina from Doosan Enerbility to further reinforce HD Hyundai's ongoing expansion in the crane business.

An HD Hyundai official said, "India is a market with strong growth potential, backed by the government's robust commitment to fostering the shipbuilding industry," adding, "We will continue to expand cooperation with India in the shipbuilding and offshore sectors and develop it into a new growth engine."

Earlier in July this year, HD Hyundai signed an MOU with Cochin Shipyard to promote cooperation in a wide range of areas, including design and procurement support, productivity enhancement, and human capital development.

More recently, the scope of this partnership has been expanded to include naval vessel projects, further strengthening HD Hyundai's presence in India.