New Delhi, Sep 8 (IANS): Reliance Naval and Engineering Limited, controlled by Reliance Infrastructure Limited, has received the necessary approval for changing the name of Reliance Defence and Engineering Limited to ‘Reliance Naval and Engineering Limited with effect from September 6, 2017, a company statement said here on Friday.

"The change in name substantiates company's intensive efforts to concentrate on naval shipbuilding as a principal focus segment. It is the first private sector company to build warships. The company created history in July 2017 by tandem launching two Naval Offshore Patrol Vessels (NOPVs)," the statement said.

At present, Reliance is one of the two private sector shipyards in India to undertake large and tactical programmes of the Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard like indigenous aircraft carriers, landing platform docks, frigates and P75I submarines.

Reliance Infrastructure Limited, through its subsidiaries, is actively pursuing various defence businesses.

It has formed Dassault Reliance Aerospace Limited (DRAL) to be a key offset partner with Dassault Aviation for 36 Rafael combat jets with an estimated off-set contract of more than Rs 30,000 crore. Reliance Infrastructure has also formed Reliance Rafael Defence Systems with Rafael Defence of Israel.

Reliance Naval and Engineering Limited has a large ship building/repair infrastructure in India. The company is the first private sector company in India to obtain the licence and contract to build NOPVs (Naval offshore patrol vessels) for the Indian Navy.

The shipyard has the only modular shipbuilding facility in India with a capacity to build fully-fabricated and outfitted blocks. The fabrication facility spread over 2.1 million square feet has an annual capacity of 144,000 tonnes a year. The shipyard has a pre-erection berth of 980 meters length and 40 meters width, and 2 Goliath cranes with combined lifting capacity of 1,200 tonnes, besides outfitting berth length of 780 meters.