FEBRUARY 20268GRSE & HSL SIGN MOU FOR STRATEGIC SHIPBUILDING PLANEICHER MOTORS INVESTS RS 958 CRORE TO SCALE ROYAL ENFIELD OUTPUTIn a significant move for India's defense sector, Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Ltd (GRSE) and Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on a large, strategically important shipbuilding program.The partnership is to create innovation in maritime platforms, which will enhance the infrastructure of shipbuilding in India and improve long-term maritime capabilities.Cdr Shantanu Bose (Retd.) who is the Director (Shipbuilding), GRSE, and the capt Ganti Venkateswarlu Eicher Motors today announced a major move to expand Royal Enfield manufacturing capacity, approving a 958 crore investment to ramp up production as demand for its bikes surges.The green light has been issued by the board of the company to a brownfield project at the Cheyyar plant in Tamil Nadu that will raise its annual motorcycle production capacity to as many as 20 lakh units in all the plants as compared to an annual motorcycle production capacity of 14.6 lakh units.The growth is witnessed because the current facilities used by Royal Enfield are operating to the maximum capacity, and the company has to extend manufacturing to the required (Retd.) who is the Officiating Chairman and the Managing Director, HSL, signed the MoU in the presence of the top leadership of the two entities.The joint venture with the model of a consortium will provide the advantages of technical knowledge, infrastructure, and implementation of both government shipyards, which will enable the Indian objectives of self-sufficiency and national defense production.GRSE, a Defence Public Sector Undertaking under the Ministry of Defence and a Schedule `A' Mini Ratna Category I company, was established in 1884 and taken over by the Government of India in 1960. The shipyard has the honor of constructing the first warship of independent India, INS Ajay, and has produced over 800 platforms, 115 of which are warships of the Indian Navy, the Indian Coast Guard and other friendly powers.The portfolio of the shipyard comprises of the frigates, corvettes, fleet tankers, landing ships, patrols, and fast attack craft. It also has diversified engineering solutions which include prefabricated steel bridges, deck machinery, marine engine services and naval guns systems. It is likely that this GRSE-HSL venture will expedite the Indian maritime potential and strengthen the local shipbuilding sector, which is a significant milestone in the development of the Indian strategic defense agenda. level to balance the demand in the market. Regulatory filings indicate that the work on the capacity build-out would begin in the first quarter of FY 2026-27 and should conclude in FY 2027-28. The project will be funded by the internal accruals of the company which will underline the commitment of the company to enhance production without external debts.This expansion drive is in line with the good perfor-mance of Royal Enfield in the past few months. Eicher has announced a 21% increase in consolidated net profit in the third quarter of FY 2026, and there is an increase in revenue of 23 percent, which is due to high sales of mid-size motorcy-cles. In addition to the expansion of the capacity, the compa-ny indicated that the investment will assist in the fulfilment of the current and future demand since the consumers still prefer its brand of bikes.The decision of Eicher is timely because Royal Enfield has reported high sales growth and market traction. To avoid overloading the manufacturing, the company will introduce the manufacturing increase in increments and this will introduce approximately 5.4 lakh units of the annual production. Executives reckon that this development will not only cater to the domestic market but also enable Royal Enfield to be stronger in the global market in the mid-segment bikes sector. TOP STORIESTOP STORIESTOP STORIES
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