Refiners, SCI tap Korean giants for local shipyard

Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum are part of the discussions

- Subhash Narayan & Rituraj Baruah

The Shipping Corp. of India (SCI), along with public sector oil refiners, are in talks with three large South Korean shipyards to set up a shipbuilding facility in India, three people aware of the discussions said.

Indian Oil Corp. Ltd, Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd and Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd are part of the discussions with South Korea's HD Hyundai, Samsung Heavy Industries and Hanwha Ocean, the people said on the condition of anonymity, adding the new yard may come up in Andhra Pradesh. In September, the four state-run companies, which plan to acquire dozens of crude and gas carriers over the next decade, had decided to form a joint venture to procure such vessels.