Miniratna Defence PSU Hindustan Shipyard gets new CMD; Navy veteran C Raghuram takes charge

Rear Admiral Chandrasekharan Raghuram, VSM (Retd.), on Thursday assumed charge as Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Hindustan Shipyard Ltd (HSL). The developmend marks a leadership change at the helm of one of the country's most strategically important defence shipyards. HSL is a Category 1 Miniratna central public sector enterprise (CPSE)

Raghuram, a Navy veteran, He succeeds Captain Ganti Venkateswarlu, HSL's Director (Shipbuilding), who had been holding additional charge of the top post after the Public Enterprises Selection Board -- the top-level body that advises the government on key recruitments at central PSUs -- recommended Raghuram's name earlier this year. The appointment was subsequently cleared by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet.

Before taking over as CMD, Raghuram was serving as Assistant Chief of Materiel in the Indian Navy, where he oversaw the maintenance and lifecycle support of key naval platforms.

Who is Chandrasekharan Raghuram?

Rear Admiral Raghuram was commissioned into the Indian Navy on November 10, 1989. He has more than three and a half decades of service across operational, technical and leadership roles. He was awarded the Vishisht Seva Medal (VSM) in 2017 in recognition of distinguished service.

Raghuram is an alumnus of the Naval College of Engineering, Lonavala, Cranfield University in the United Kingdom, the Naval War College and the National Defence College.

Over the course of his naval career, he built expertise in warship design, research and development, combat system integration, equipment lifecycle management and afloat operations. He also served in instructional assignments, helping train future naval officers.

His sea-going assignments included service onboard frontline warships INS Gomati and INS Trishul. He was also part of the commissioning crew of INS Trishul. Besides operational deployments, he held technical appointments at Naval Dockyard, the Afloat Support Team for Talwar-class ships and WESEE, the Navy's specialist organisation for information technology and systems engineering.

Senior appointments held in the Navy

During his vast career, Raghuram has held several key positions across the Indian Navy.

He served as Commanding Officer of INS Valsura, Principal Director Electrical Engineering at the Integrated Headquarters of the Ministry of Defence (Navy), Command Electrical Officer at Headquarters Eastern Naval Command and Chief Staff Officer (Technical) at Headquarters Western Naval Command. He also handled senior responsibilities at Naval Dockyard Mumbai and Naval Headquarters.

As the new CMD of HSL, Raghuram will be expected to steer the CPSE towards strengthening its position as a strategic defence shipyard while supporting the nation's push for greater self-reliance in maritime defence manufacturing.

HSL, a Group-I Miniratna CPSE

Visakhapatnam-headquartered Hindustan Shipyard is one of the country's oldest shipyards.

Established in 1941 and brought under government ownership in 1952, it is now the country's second-largest shipyard after Cochin Shipyard. The yard has a covered building dock capable of constructing large vessels of up to 80,000 deadweight tonnes.

HSL holds Mini Ratna Category-I status under the Ministry of Defence's Department of Defence Production. In other words, this status is given to financially strong central public sector companies with a consistent record of profitability. It gives the company's board greater freedom to approve investments, technology partnerships, joint ventures and infrastructure projects without seeking government approval for every major decision, enabling faster execution of large defence programmes.

One of HSL's most important strengths is submarine work. It is among the few Indian shipyards capable of carrying out submarine construction and major refits. The yard has completed extended medium refits of Kilo-class submarines, including INS Sindhukirti, INS Vela and INS Vagli, while the modernisation of INS Sindhukirti continues.

HSL had also earlier retrofitted INS Sindhuvir before the submarine was transferred to Myanmar.

The shipyard is now preparing to expand from submarine refits into submarine construction through collaboration with Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited, a move that is expected to strengthen India's domestic submarine manufacturing ecosystem.

Apart from submarines, HSL builds specialised naval vessels with a high level of indigenous content. It delivered INS Dhruv, India's first indigenously built Ocean Surveillance Ship, and has also constructed Diving Support Vessels for the Indian Navy.

The company has also been pursuing international opportunities. It has held discussions with the Vietnam People's Navy on possible submarine refit work, engaged with Myanmar on defence cooperation, and held talks with the Philippines as part of India's broader effort to expand maritime defence exports in the Indo-Pacific region. Earlier this year, HSL also signed an MoU with Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) to jointly pursue a large national shipbuilding programme.