OMC-ShipMin talks for making domestic large vessels pick up pace

Ministry wants sectoral players to provide long-term contracts for shipowners

- SUBHAYAN CHAKRABORTY & DHRUVAKSH SAHA

As the government looks to finalize its national shipbuilding mission with a slew of incentives and policies, state-owned players in the oil & gas sector have already pushed for being given priority access to domestically manufactured large ships, according to multiple officials aware of the developments.

This has been requested at multiple inter-ministerial meetings between public sector oil & gas companies, the Ports, Shipping and Waterways Ministry (ShipMin), and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry, according to an official.

"The oil & gas sector requires a major number of ships in the coming years to accommodate the growing need to transport vast quantities of crude oil and gas, which are now increasingly coming from further away and the turnaround time for delivered crude is increasing. Having these built in India would benefit the nation," a petroleum ministry official said.

India has seen a major uptick in discounted crude oil from Russia in the past two years, and is expected to soon import an increasing amount of oil from the US. Historically, most imports have been from suppliers located closer in West Asia, such as Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).