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New Delhi, Apr 15: Engineering and construction firm Larsen&Toubro (L&T) Ltd today said it has signed a joint venture agreement to set up an integrated Shipyard Complex with an investment of about Rs 3,000 crore in the Kattupalli village, near Ennore in Tiruvallur District of Tamil Nadu.

''The proposed Shipyard complex will include facilities for commercial ship building including very large cargo carriers, specialised cargo ships for liquid / gas transportation and cruise vessels,'' the company said in a statement. It will also have the capability to build vessels for the Defence sector, off-shore platforms and floating production cum storage facilities for the Oil&Gas sector, it added.

The Shipyard will also have the facilities for refitting and re-engineering of commercial and Defence vessels, and heavy engineering fabrication and components production for ship building purposes.

The shipyard complex will promote several ancillary units for manufacture of components and spares for this Shipyard, and for exports.

The construction will start by the end of this year and is likely to be completed by 2010.

The shipyard at Kattupalli will be capable of building 25 big ships in a year and repair another 50-60 ships.

L&T has hired the Rostock, Germany-based consultant Ingenieurtechnik und Maschinenbau GmbH (IMG), to develop a master plan and design for the shipyard, the statement added.

UNI