India’s Kolkata-based PSU Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) and UK’s Rolls-Royce have signed a ‘frame and individual licence’ agreement for production of the MTU IMO Tier II compliant Series 4000 marine engines to power government ships.
The move will help the state-owned shipyard in making fast patrol vessels, interceptor boats and fast attack craft projects of the Indian Navy and the Indian Coast Guard.
Under this agreement inked, the IMO Tier II engines, which conform to stipulated emission standards set by United Nations’ International Maritime Organization (IMO), will be manufactured at the diesel engine plant of the GRSE in Ranchi which has fully equipped with test bench facility as well as trained service personnel.
The agreement, as per a GRSE statement, will cover “assembly of licensee-built products, manufacturing, or procurement of licensee-built parts and/or components, engine testing and finishing (including painting)”.
Likewise, “manufacturing or procurement of licensee-built parts and/or components to produce licensee-built products in the territory” and sale and after-sales-services will be included under the agreement.
“As a solution brand of Rolls-Royce’s business unit Power Systems, MTU Series 4000 engines with a power output of 746-4,300 KW, stand out with their high-power density and power-to-weight ratio, their compact design as well as their mechanical and thermal stability,” the GRSE stated.
On top of that, they are easy to use and maintain, with low lifecycle costs, it added while observing that the engine gives every naval vessel the right propulsion – from small patrol vessels to frigates and large submarines.
The license agreement between GRSE and Rolls-Royce adds up to the long-standing partnership the two have had since the mid-1980s over the line production, maintenance, repair and overhaul of MTU engines.
The Shipyard has modernised the Ranchi plant recently and tied up with M/s MTU Germany to indigenise manufacturing of 40 per cent of engine parts under Make in India initiative over a few years.
