The boat-building unit at Karaikal has been brisk in the recent months thanks to huge demand.
The town accounts for a cluster of boat-building units and at least 10 boats are being built at every unit, indicating the growing demand for the mechanised boats.
According to a cross section of boat-builders, it takes at least four months to complete a boat.
The minimum expenditure is about Rs.80 lakh but it will go up to even Rs.1 crore, depending upon additional infrastructure requirement of the fishermen, they say.
At each boat, at least 10 workers can be seen working.
Broadly divided into carpentry, tinkering and machinery fittings, the trade involves adequate care and caution.
They said that the frequent seizures of the mechanised boats belonging to Tamil Nadu and Puducherry fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy often result in extensive damage to boats.
“This is one of the factors contributing to the increase in the number of orders being booked here,” they said.
