RAdm Shekhar Mital, NM, IN (Retd), Chairman and Managing Director of Goa Shipyard Limited, today demitted his office on his retirement after a glorious innings of 4 years and 10 months. On the occasion of his retirement, the employees of Shipyard bid him an emotional farewell and recalled the achievements of his tenure.
RAdm Shekhar Mital with thoughtful & forward looking approach and innovative solutions had turned around a loss making organisation into profit within one year of his taking over. There was no looking back since then, as Shipyard has delivered 26 ships, 02 Damage Control Simulators and a NBC Simulator in last 04 years, all before contractual delivery schedules. The gross tonnage delivered by the Yard, has increased 3 times in 3 years to swell from 4402 T in 2014-15 to 12,000T in 2017-18. In today’s time when majority of the Shipyards, operating in the same ecosystem, are struggling with time and cost overruns, he has instituted a culture of ‘before time’ deliveries, which will reap rich dividend for a long time to come. The reduction in ‘Build Period’ of OPVs from 67 months to 36 months not only helped in timely deliveries but also led to significant financial gains to the Company.
Under his dynamic leadership and outreach, the Shipyard emerged as the largest exporter of defence ships from India consecutively for last 03 years, delivering 02 OPVs to Sri Lanka, 02 FPVs and 11 FIBs to Mauritius and a Damage Control Simulator to Myanmar.
Securing major import substitute projects such as Advanced Missile Frigates and Mine Counter Measure Vessels was one of his major achievements as it has put GSL in the select league of shipyards, who can design and construct such complex and weapon intensive platforms. The Shipyard, which till date was handling projects max upto Rs 2000 Crore, is now working on Missile Frigates Project worth Rs 14,850 Crore. This will usher huge new opportunities for the local industry at Goa.
Yet another major work undertaken during his period, was the reinforcement of ‘Refit and General Engineering Services’, which registered exceptional growth in construction of simulators, specialized boats etc. The Department is presently in the process of expanding its product range to include hovercrafts, heli landing grids steering/ stabilising systems etc.
The satisfying results of this strong execution driven performance soon translated into sound financials, with the revenue increasing 3 times – a remarkable surge from around Rs 553 crore prior to 2013 to Rs 1453 crore in FY18. The profits (PBT) has grown from (-) 63 Crore in FY 14 to Rs 331 Crore in FY 18 reflecting the tremendous growth achieved in the last few years.
Admiral Mital expressed deep satisfaction on his tenure and owed his success to the commitment of employees of GSL and support from both Central and State Governments, Ministry of Defence, Indian Navy, Coast Guard and local Goa population.
Cmde Nagpal, NM, IN (Retd), who is presently working at GSL in the capacity of Director (CPP&BD), will be assuming charge as Chairman and Managing
Director w.e.f 01 Dec 2018. He has huge shipbuilding experience and has all the capabilities to take the Shipyard to further glorious heights.
