Sat, Jul 19, 2025
How Gujarat’s Shipbuilding Dream Sank: The Fall Of Alcock Ashdown
Once a trusted shipbuilder for the Indian Navy, the state-owned firm crumbled under mismanagement and mounting losses
May 11, 2025 · 2 min read
After years of limbo, the final liquidation order for Gujarat Alcock Ashdown Ltd (GAAL) is now expected soon, as the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) prepares to close the curtain on the long-drawn insolvency proceedings. Once a proud name in shipbuilding—with Indian Navy contracts and a reputation for quality—the company has not built a ship or turned a profit in six years. Today, its once-bustling shipyards and infrastructure is left to rust.
Alcock Ashdown was originally established in 1994 under the Companies Act to revitalise Gujarat’s shipbuilding industry. Initially holding great promise, it saw its operations come to a complete halt by 2013. Despite a legacy of building 257 vessels and gaining a reputation for quality and affordability, the company fell into disrepair due to persistent cash flow issues, mounting project delays, and alleged administrative negligence.
A major blow came from a ₹660 crore contract awarded by the Indian Navy for six ships. Not a single one was delivered. The Gujarat government, which had taken of the company from the Centre, backed it with ₹75 crore in bank guarantees—money that was ultimately forfeited when the company defaulted. Despite repeated warnings and damning audit reports highlighting mismanagement, no one was held accountable.
In 2019, after years of sustained losses and non-performance, the Industries and Mines Department formally shut down operations. Post this, GAAL applied for voluntary liquidation under Section 10 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). The Resolution Professional, Trupal Patel, submitted a final report to the NCLT citing a loss of ₹73.68 lakh for 2023–24. The company’s cumulative losses has now ballooned to ₹660.32 crore as of March 2024. All that remains is the formal liquidation order.
What is left behind is a ghost of ambition—shipyards that once featured a graving dry dock, ship repair jetties, hull assembly bays, modern fabrication units, and even a CNC steel cutting system and FRP boat-building infrastructure. Today, this once-advanced setup lies in disuse and decay, unsold and unwanted.
Back in 2018, the Joint Secretary of the Industries and Mines Department, B.S. Mehta, had acknowledged that Alcock Ashdown had become commercially unviable. Despite recommendations from the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) for punitive action against those responsible for its downfall, no disciplinary measures have been taken.
With the NCLT's final order imminent, Alcock Ashdown's story stands as a cautionary tale of how public sector mismanagement can squander industrial potential and valuable assets.
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