Approval granted for shipbuilding and launch facility at Nhava

Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited, which builds vessels for the Indian Navy and Coast Guard, has received approval to set up a floating dry dock with a launching facility at Nhava off the Mumbai coast.

The Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) cleared the proposal in its July meeting. Established in 1960, Mazagon Dock employs over 6,000 skilled workers directly and supports thousands more indirectly through its supply chain.

The shipyard is currently building P17, P15A and P15B class warships along with six Scorpene‑class submarines. With construction orders for about 31 defence vessels, the company also plans to expand into building next‑generation destroyers, landing helicopter dock ships and aircraft carriers.

The proposed dry dock will comprise six blocks which are being constructed at Bharuch in Gujarat. They will later be transported to the company’s yard in Nhava and assembled into a floating, 180-metre-long dry dock, occupying an area of 13, 585 square metres, offsetting the lack of land-based infrastructure for ship building activities.

According to the minutes of MCZMA’s July meeting, where the proposal was approved, Mazagon Dock will set up a temporary facility to assemble the dry dock modules on a patch of land located at the northern edge of its Nhava yard. The site currently has no mangroves, vegetation, or permanent/temporary structures, and the facility will be dismantled once the floating dry dock is launched in March 2026.

The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report presented during the meeting noted that launching facilities of this nature must be well protected from wave action, and the Nhava project site offers favorable conditions, with Elephanta Island acting as a natural headland. It also highlighted that tidal circulation in the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) navigation channel—through which ships will move between the floating dock and the sea—is relatively strong, as flood and ebb tides pass through the narrow channel between Elephanta Island and the Nhava‑Sheva landmass. The floating dry dock will have negligible impact on the tidal regime and coastline and the mangroves around Nhava island are located far away from it, the report further mentioned.