Quick Take
- Cochin Shipyard and Drydocks World signed a 50:50 joint venture on September 11, 2026 to run the International Ship Repair Facility in Kochi.
- The Kochi facility will move to the JV on a slump sale basis for at least Rs 1,800 crore, valued at 30.55% of Cochin Shipyard’s net worth.
- The deal still needs clearance from the Cochin Port Authority, the shipping ministry, DIPAM and Cochin Shipyard shareholders.
Cochin Shipyard Limited and Drydocks World signed a 50:50 joint venture on September 11, 2026 to operate and expand the International Ship Repair Facility in Kochi. Drydocks World is a DP World company based in Dubai.
The agreement was signed on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit 2026 in New Delhi. Captain Rado Antolovic, chief executive of Drydocks World, and Jose V J, chairman and managing director of Cochin Shipyard, signed it. Sarbananda Sonowal, Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, was present.
The deal builds on an earlier step. Drydocks World and Cochin Shipyard signed a memorandum of understanding at India Maritime Week 2025 to explore ship repair collaboration. The two have now turned that into a formal 50:50 company.
Cochin Shipyard calls it a first-of-its-kind public-private partnership in India’s ship repair sector.
What does the deal involve?
The International Ship Repair Facility will move to the new joint venture company on a slump sale basis for a consideration of not less than Rs 1,800 crore. Cochin Shipyard will get half of that in cash. The other half comes as shares in the JV company.
The exchange filing sets the facility’s value at Rs 1,800 crore, based on third-party independent valuations. That figure equals about 30.55% of Cochin Shipyard’s net worth as of March 31, 2026.
The JV will be a private limited company under the Companies Act, 2013. Its registered office will be in Kochi. It will own, operate and manage the facility for dry-docking, maintenance, repair and overhaul of commercial and naval vessels.
The facility handles vessels of up to 130 metres in length and 6,000 tonnes in weight. The JV plans to add 10 workstations to the six that already exist.
Who controls the joint venture?
Each side holds 50% of the share capital. Board control, though, is not split evenly. Drydocks World can nominate three of the five directors. Cochin Shipyard will nominate two.
Drydocks World also gets to nominate senior management, including the chief executive, the chief financial officer and the chief operating officer, as applicable. So the Dubai partner runs day-to-day operations while ownership stays equal.
Cochin Shipyard said the tie-up will bring in global best practices, advanced technology and faster turnaround. The company expects it to lift India’s capacity for complex, high-value ship repair.
How big is the Kochi facility?
The facility sits on around 30 hectares at Willingdon Island in Kochi. The land and water areas are leased from the Cochin Port Authority for 60 years. It was built at a cost of Rs 970 crore.
It has a 6,000-tonne ship lift and transfer system, six workstations and around 1,400 metres of berthing space. It can handle up to six vessels at once. Its annual throughput capacity is up to 82 ships.
The facility was inaugurated in January 2024 and began commercial operations in August 2024. In financial year 2026 it generated revenue of Rs 207.33 crore. That was about 4.81% of Cochin Shipyard’s total revenue from operations.
| Metric | Figure |
|---|---|
| Construction cost | Rs 970 crore |
| Valuation for the JV | Rs 1,800 crore |
| FY26 revenue | Rs 207.33 crore |
| Share of CSL revenue | 4.81% |
| Annual throughput capacity | Up to 82 ships |
What approvals are still needed?
The deal is not closed yet. It needs sign-off from the Cochin Port Authority, the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, and the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management. Cochin Shipyard shareholders must also approve it.
The company said it is approaching the relevant authorities. It expects the transaction to be implemented before the end of the current financial year.
Cochin Shipyard trades on the BSE and NSE and is owned by the Government of India. Drydocks World runs the largest ship repair facility in the Middle East, in Dubai.
StartupFeed Insight
The number that tells the real story is control, not ownership. The split is 50:50, but Drydocks World gets three of five board seats and names the CEO, CFO and COO. A state-owned yard is handing operational command of a strategic asset to a Dubai operator, in exchange for capital and know-how. That is the trade India’s maritime push is willing to make. Watch the shareholder vote and the DIPAM nod. Both are needed before the current financial year ends, and a public sector asset valued at 30.55% of net worth rarely clears that fast. If it closes on time, expect more state yards to copy the Petronet-style model.
— Harshvardhan Kothari, Technology and Policy Correspondent
What this means for you: If you supply or service the ship repair trade in Kerala, the JV is your new counterparty, and its buying decisions will run through Dubai-appointed management.
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