Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced ₹4000 crore investment for modernisation of Dredging Corporation of India Limited during the recent inauguration of India Maritime Week 2025 at Mumbai, according to an official communication by the company here on Friday.
The ₹4,000 crore investment will focus on fleet modernisation and capacity enhancement to strengthen India’s dredging infrastructure.
Speaking on the occasion, Chairman Dredging Corporation of India Limited and Chairperson of the Visakhapatnam Port Authority and Mumbai Port M. Angamuthu, expressed gratitude to Prime Minister and the Ministry for their visionary support.
Managing Director & CEO of the DCIL S. Divakar added DCI’s current dredging capacity is based on a fleet primarily consisting of 10 Trailer Suction Hopper Dredgers (TSHDs) with a combined hopper capacity of approximately 60,000 cubic metres. This fleet enables handling of roughly 50-60 million cubic metres of dredging annually, accounting for nearly 55% of India’s total dredging requirement of around 110- 120 million cubic metres per year.
Approval of Ministry was already given for procurement three new TSHDs out of which DCI has already placed the order for one 12000 CuM TSHD – DCI Dredge Godavari in March 2022. The vessel was launched recently and is expected to be delivered in July 2026 to DCI in Visakhapatnam.
The DCI will place the order for another 12000 CuM TSHD in next few months and order for another dredger would follow subsequently. Further, DCI also plans to procure one Cutter Suction Dredger, a water injection dredger another TSHD of lower capacity to do shallow draft dredging and also six beavers dredgers of different capacities for dredging in inland waterways/ canals etc.
The total investment for procurement of these 11 dredgers and other initiatives is ₹4000 crore, and would enable DCI would place its foot firmly not only in the maintenance dredging market which it is already leading in India but also in Capital dredging, said DCI CEO.
DCIL operates under a consortium of four major ports — Visakhapatnam Port Authority (VPA), Paradip Port Authority (PPA), Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA), and Deendayal Port Authority (DPA) — functioning under Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways (MoPSW).
Published – October 31, 2025 08:54 pm IST
