Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Secretary TK Ramachandran said the government is focusing on enhancing India’s shipbuilding and ship repair capabilities to become ‘Aatmanirbhar‘ or self-reliant in the maritime sector.
“Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India is set to become a global economic superpower, with a robust maritime sector playing a crucial role in this journey. However, despite efforts and developments in port infrastructure and inland waterways, we remain dependent on foreign vessels and have yet to capture a significant share of the global shipbuilding market,” the secretary said at workshop titled ‘Revitalising Indian Ship Building Industry’ organised by the Ministry.
Emphasising self-reliance, or “Aatmanirbharta,” he said the government has extended this principle to the shipping and shipbuilding industries as well. “Recognising this, the Ministry is now focusing on enhancing our shipbuilding, and ship repair infrastructure to meet the ambitious goals of Maritime India Vision 2030 (MIV 2030) and Amrit Kaal Vision 2047,” Ramachandran said.
The Ministry highlighted the growing trend of the Indian overseas and coastal cargo, while at the same time highlighting that the share of the cargo carried by Indian owned/ flagged vessels has been dropping over the past decade and presently stand at only about 5.4 per cent.
“If there is no initiative undertaken, then this share may fall further, resulting in Indian owned/ Indian built ships having no play even in India’s own shipping market,” it said, adding, “Owning of the fleet needed for national trade brings with it several key advantages in terms of availability of fleet in times of crisis, protection against embargos and protection of India’s valuable foreign exchange reserves which is presently being spent on chartering and freight management charges to foreign nations.”
The Ministry further stated that if the tremendous demand stemming from the needs of the Indian shipping market are adequately targeted by Indian shipyards, it may result in an opportunity to the extent of over USD 237 billion or Rs 20 lakh crore by 2047.
In the past, MoPSW has endeavored to aid the growth of shipbuilding and ship repair industry through schemes such as Shipbuilding Financial Assistant Policy, Right of First Refusal (ROFR) policy, according ‘infrastructure’ status to shipyards, etc.
“Despite these measures, commercial shipbuilding in India, has still not reached a position of strength compared to global shipbuilding majors, accounting for less than 1 per cent of the global shipbuilding market, largely on account of lack of demand. Consequently, MoPSW is examining the policy measures to strengthen demand creation domestically given our requirement to strengthen our domestic fleets,” the ministry added.
The ministry further stated, “Notable advancements made in the development of indigenous low-emission or zero-emission ships/vessels by Indian shipbuilding companies showcase our potential to lead the world in safe sustainable and green shipbuilding. MoPSW is working on an integrated approach to bringing together shipbuilding stakeholders through the development of maritime clusters.”
