New Shipbuilding, Repair Policy In Works

The shipping ministry will soon come up with a new shipbuilding and repair policy under the 100-day action plan, a top government official said on Thursday. Maritime India Vision 2030 (MIV 2030) aims to move India's shipbuilding and ship repair ranking into the top 10 globally while Amrit Kaal Vision 2047 sets an even more ambitious goal of reaching the top five.

"The MoPSW (Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways) is steadfast in its commitment to revitalise the shipbuilding and repair industry in India. MoPSW will come up with a new Ship Building and Ship Repair Policy soon under the 100-day action plan," an official statement quoted MoPSW Secretary TK Ramachandran as saying. He was addressing a workshop on the Revitalizing Indian Ship Building Industry.

According to the statement, the presentation made by the ministry highlighted the growing trend of 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 stands at only about 5.4%.

"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," the statement said.

It pointed out that owning the fleet needed for national trade brings with it several key advantages in terms of availability of fleet in times of crisis, protection against embargoes and protection of India's valuable foreign exchange reserves, which is presently being spent on chartering and freight management charges to foreign nations.

"At the same time, 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 $237 billion (Rs 20 lakh crore) by 2047," it said.

The workshop was attended by more than 100 participants from 50 organisations, including various government ministries, departments, shipping operators and PSU/ private sector shipyards.