Large ships get infra status in boost to maritime industry

Path cleared for smooth sailing = Large ships added to infra list under ‘Transport & Logistics’ category = Infra tag enables easier loans, higher ECB limits, longer tenor funds, and lIFCL borrowing = India has just 0.06% of global shipbuilding share, pays $109 bn in sea freight to foreign firms ® Govt eyes 254 trillion investment in indigenous shipping & shipbuilding by 2047

- DHRUVAKSH SAHA

The Ministry of Finance has finally given infrastructure status to large ships, meeting one of the shipping industry’s longest-standing demands. This comes seven months after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced it in her Budget speech.

In a notification on September 19, the department of economic affairs of the finance ministry notified a modification to the harmonised master list of infrastructure sectors.

“Large ships’ are included in the harmonised master list of infrastructure sub-sectors by insertion of a new item in the category of “Transport and Logistics’,” the finance ministry’s gazette notification said.