India has a viable voyage plan to acquire self-reliance in shipping

Four major moves have been made to achieve the PM’s goal of a 30% share in global maritime trade

- ANIL DEVLI & R.V. ANURADHA

Atthe ‘Samudra ke Samriddhi’ programme in Ahmedabad on 20 September, Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted the staggering financial loss India incurs due to reliance on foreign shipping. India pays foreign shipping companies $75 billion annually, nearly equivalent to its annual defence budget. This is mainly because foreign ships carry almost 95% of India’s export-import trade, “Be it chips or ships, they must be Made in India,” Modi said.

Four significant steps to revitalize India’s shipbuilding and maritime ecosystem have been initiated as part of a package approved by the Union cabinet:

One, the Shipbuilding Financial Assistance Scheme has been extended till 31 March 2036. This, coupled with infrastructure status for shipyards, will facilitate credit for setting up shipyards.

Two, a Maritime Development Fund (MDF) has been approved with a corpus of $25,000 crore to provide long-term financing for ship acquisition.

Three, the cabinet has approved the allocation of $4,001 crore for an innovative scheme, the Shipbreaking Credit Note, which was announced in the budget. This scheme incentivizes ship scrapping by issuing a credit note of 40% of the scrap value that can be reimbursed to buy new ‘Made in India’ ships.