Lok Sabha Question No. 184 (STARRED), answered on 2025-08-01
Subject: Revival of Shipbuilding Industry
Ministry: PORTS, SHIPPING AND WATERWAYS
Asked by: Dr. Pradeep Kumar Panigrahy

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF PORTS, SHIPPING AND WATERWAYS

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *184

ANSWERED ON 01.08.2025

## REVIVAL OF SHIPBUILDING INDUSTRY

*184.  DR. PRADEEP KUMAR PANIGRAHY:

Will the Minister of PORTS, SHIPPING AND WATERWAYS be pleased to state: पȅन , पोत पįरवहन एवं जलमागŊ मंũालय

- (a) whether the Government has taken note of India's low share in global shipbuilding and ship repair; and
- (b) if so, the steps taken by the Government to revive the shipbuilding industry, attract private  investment  and  develop  skilled  manpower  to  position  India  as  a  competitive maritime hub by 2030?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF PORTS SHIPPING AND WATERWAYS (SHRI SARBANANDA SONOWAL)

- (a) to   (b) A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (b) OF THE LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *184 FOR 1 st  AUGUST, 2025 RAISED BY DR. PRADEEP KUMAR PANIGRAHY REGARDING 'REVIVAL OF SHIPBUILDING INDUSTRY'

(a) to (b) Yes. Reviving the shipbuilding industry and attracting private sector investment in shipbuilding are in line with the objectives of Maritime India Vision 2030 and Maritime Amrit Kaal vision 2047.

The  Union  budget  speech,  2025  mentions  the  following, with respect to shipbuilding:

Para 63: 'The Shipbuilding Financial Assistance Policy will be revamped to address cost disadvantages.  This  will  also  include  credit  notes  for  shipbreaking  in  Indian  yards  to promote the circular economy.'

Para  64: 'Large  ships  above  a  specified  size  will  be  included  in  the  infrastructure harmonized master list (HML).'

Para 65: 'Shipbuilding Clusters will be facilitated to increase the range, categories and capacity  of  ships.  This  will  include additional  infrastructure  facilities, skilling  and technology to develop the entire ecosystem.'

Para 66: 'For long-term financing for the maritime industry, a Maritime Development Fund with a corpus of INR 25,000 crore will be set up. This will be for distributed support and promoting competition. This will have up to 49 per cent contribution by the Government, and the balance will be mobilized from ports and private sector'

Para  125: 'Considering  that  shipbuilding  has  a  long  gestation  period,  I  propose  to continue the exemption of BCD on raw materials, components, consumables or parts for the manufacture of ships for another ten years. I also propose the same dispensation for ship breaking to make it more competitive'.

The Government has taken the following measures to promote the shipbuilding activities:

- i. Government  is  providing  Ship  building  financial  assistance  (SBFA),  to  Indian shipyards  to  provide  them  a  level  playing  field  vis-à-vis  Foreign  Shipyards. Shipyards receive financial assistance for shipbuilding contracts signed during the dates, April 1, 2016 to March 31, 2026 including the said dates.
- ii. The government has granted infrastructure status to the shipbuilding yards. This status helps the shipyards to pick up debt at favorable terms and lower interest rates. They will also be able to issue infrastructure bonds.
- iii. Government has issued guidelines for evaluating and awarding tenders for new shipbuilding orders floated by government departments or agencies including public

sector undertakings for acquisition of any type of vessel(s). Whenever acquisition of a vessel(s) is undertaken through tendering route, the qualified Indian Shipyards will have a 'Right of first refusal' (ROFR) to enable them to match the evaluated lowest price offered by the foreign shipyard.

- iv. To increase ship-building  activities  in  Indian  shipyards,  the  Government  entities dealing with ship building and ship-owning are advised to ensure local content as per  the  Government  of  India  Public  Procurement  (Preference  to  Make  in  India) order 2017. As per this order, procurement of Ships of less than Rs 200 crore is required to be from Indian shipyards.
- v. The government has released Standard Tug Designs of five variants for use by Major ports for procurement of tugs to be built in Indian Shipyards.
- vi. Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL), a public sector enterprise under Ministry of Port, Shipping & Waterways (MoPSW), has also undertaken several initiatives for shipbuilding and ship repair, they are as follows:
- a.  For shipbuilding, CSL has commissioned a New Dry Dock (NDD) in its Kochi facility. Built at a cost of about Rs 1,800 crores it is a flagship project reflecting New India's engineering prowess. This one-of-a-kind 310-meter-long stepped dry dock, with a width of 75/60 meters, depth of 13 meters and a draught of up to 9.5 meters, is one of the largest marine infrastructures in the region. This is able  to  handle  strategic  assets  as  well  as  large  commercial  vessels,  thus eliminating India's dependency on foreign nations.
- b.  For ship repairs, CSL has developed a state-of the-art International Ship Repair Facility (ISRF) at Kochi at an estimated cost of Rs.970 crores. The ISRF aims to  modernize,  expand  and  substantially  augment  the  existing  ship  repair capacity of India.
- vii. To provide internships in the shipbuilding sector, two of the public sector shipyards Cochin  Shipyard  Limited  (CSL)  and  Mazagon  Dock  Shipbuilders  Limited  (MDL) have registered under the Prime Minister Internship Scheme (PMIS).

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