Demand for building five FSS by HSL gets louder

Visakhapatnam : The partial handing over of the construction of two Fleet Support Ships to L&T by Hindustan Shipyard Limited management resulted in controversy.

Coming down heavily on the CMD of the HSL, the CITU representatives objected to the decision made by the HSL in handing over a part of its project to the L&T.

Terming it as a ‘wrong decision’, CITU state general secretary Ch Narasinga Rao said on Wednesday that when the HSL was assigned to construct five Fleet Support Ships (FSS) as per the order, two of them were handed over to the L&T.

“The five ships were supposed to be built at a cost of Rs.20,000 crore. However, with two of them getting into the account of L&T, it would result in a loss for the HSL that has a conducive infrastructure to construct the FSS required for the defence sector,” he lamented at a media conference held in the city.

Expressing concern over the partial order getting into the kitty of a private company, the CITU representatives demanded that the decision should be withdrawn by the HSL with immediate effect and it should take up the completion of five FSS instead.