Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL), the Visakhapatnam-based Miniratna Category-I defence public sector unit, has a new Chairman and Managing Director. Rear Admiral Chandrasekharan Raghuram, VSM (Retd), has taken charge, bringing over three and a half decades of naval service to a company central to India’s submarine-building ambitions.
The appointment follows a recommendation from the Public Enterprises Selection Board and subsequent clearance from the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet. He succeeds Captain Ganti Venkateswarlu, HSL’s Director (Shipbuilding), who had been holding additional charge. Rear Admiral Raghuram was previously Assistant Chief of Materiel, overseeing maintenance of key naval platforms.
Commissioned into the Navy in 1989 and awarded the Vishisht Seva Medal in 2017, he is an alumnus of the Naval College of Engineering, Cranfield University, the Naval War College, and the National Defence College. His career spans afloat operations, warship design, combat system integration, and command of INS Valsura, along with senior postings at Eastern and Western Naval Command and Integrated Headquarters, MoD (Navy).
Why HSL’s Miniratna Status Matters
Founded in 1941 and India’s second-largest shipyard after Cochin Shipyard, HSL holds Miniratna Category-I status. This grants HSL’s board greater autonomy on capital expenditure, joint ventures, and technology tie-ups without needing prior government approval for each decision a meaningful edge given the scale of work on its books.
HSL has moved from losses to profit in recent years, posting a record ₹118.82 crore profit after tax in FY 2023-24 on its highest-ever production value.
A Submarine-Led Portfolio
Submarines remain HSL’s core strategic capability. The yard has carried out medium refits of Kilo-class submarines, including INS Sindhukirti, INS Vela, and INS Vagli, with Sindhukirti’s refit ongoing, and earlier retrofitted INS Sindhuvir ahead of its transfer to Myanmar. It’s now preparing to move into submarine construction itself, partnering with Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders to deepen India’s domestic submarine base.
The yard also builds Diving Support Vessels and delivered INS Dhruv, India’s first indigenous Ocean Surveillance Ship. Internationally, it has held talks with Vietnam, Myanmar, and the Philippines on refit work and defence cooperation, and signed an MoU with Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers in February 2026 for a joint national shipbuilding push.