Pipavav Shipyard has received c, making it the first shipyard in the private sector to receive such a licence.

The department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP) issued the licence after screening by the ministries of home and defence and other related agencies, Pipavav said in a release.

The licence allows the shipyard to bid for construction of submarines, destroyers, frigates, LDP, coverettes as also aircraft carriers.

The licence permits Pipavav Shipyard to build five war ships in a year. With the average construction time of 3-4 years for a warship, Pipavav can take up construction of up to 20 warships at any given time, the company said.

Pipavav Shipyard is the only modular defence-focused shipbuilding company, which can build warships in a much shorter time and in a cost-efficient manner, the company said.

The shipyard is capable of building new aircraft carrier and dry-docking of INS Vikramaditya (ex-Admiral Gorshkov) for repairs and maintenance, simultaneously.

Pipavav also proposes to take up warship building programme for other friendly countries, preferably in partnership with defence PSUs.

The shipyard has modular construction facilities along with a huge dry dock and a high-level delegation of the ministry of defence had assessed the capacity of Pipavav Shipyard before giving clearance.

Pipavav Shipyard is currently completing setting up an integrated shipbuilding facility, which, upon completion, will be the largest in India and among the largest in Asia.

PSL is spread over an aggregate area of 198.92 hectares, comprising an SEZ unit spread over 95 hectares and an EOU spread over 103.92 hectares. The two sites are connected by a dedicated corridor road of approximately 4.5 km length built by the company.

The shipyard, located on the south-western coast of Gujarat, near the `Gulf of Khambhat' about 130 km from Bhavnagar to its east and Diu, about 90 km to its west, commenced commercial operations on 1 April 2009.

The board of Pipavav Shipyard Ltd will meet on 12 November 2010 to consider and approve the un-audited financial results of the company for the second quarter and the first half of the financial year ended 30 September 2010.