Shipping Corp of India (SCI) is in a tender for six anchor-handler newbuildings.
The state-owned shipowner wants to spend $19m each or a total of $114m on vessels at domestic shipyards, according to offshore director Arun Kumar Gupta. 
The group had previously said it planned to spend $250m on 10 offshore vessels in total in the near future to build up its presence in the expanding sector.
Bharati Shipyard and ABG Shipyard will be front-runners for the new contracts.
Already this year, SCI has ordered six anchor-handling tug supply (AHTS) vessels and two platform supply vessels (PSVs).