RAS question
India's largest shipyard is located at:
Correct answer: (D) Kochi.
India's largest shipbuilding and maintenance facility is Cochin Shipyard Limited at Kochi, Kerala.
Explanation
Kochi is the right answer because Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL), located there, is India's largest shipbuilding and maintenance facility. Its scale is shown by its ability to build vessels up to 1,10,000 DWT. The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways identifies CSL as a major player in Indian shipbuilding and ship repair, notes that it has built and repaired some of the largest ships in India, and links the yard with the Indigenous Aircraft Carrier for the Indian Navy. That combination of shipbuilding capacity, repair capability and defence work is why Kochi, not the other port cities listed, fits the question.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Vishakhapatnam has Hindustan Shipyard, but its capacity is lower, up to 70,000 DWT, than CSL's 1,10,000 DWT.
- (B) Chennai is a major port city, but the question asks for India's largest shipyard, which is CSL at Kochi.
- (C) Mumbai has Mazagon Dock, but India's largest shipbuilding and maintenance facility is CSL at Kochi.
Concept
This tests the industrial geography of India's ports and shipbuilding centres. It recurs in RAS because transport, maritime infrastructure and defence-linked industrial locations are standard map-based economy questions.