Cabinet Issues Nod For Nearly Rs 70,000 Crore Boost To Shipbuilding And Maritime Sector

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday has approved the shipbuilding and maritime development reforms worth Rs 69,725 crore to revitalise India’s shipbuilding and maritime ecosystem.

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced that the package introduces a four-pillar approach designed to strengthen domestic capacity, improve long-term financing, promote greenfield and brownfield shipyard development.

He further added that, the package will enhance technical capabilities and skilling, and implement legal, taxation, and policy reforms to create a robust maritime infrastructure. 

Under this package, the Shipbuilding Financial Assistance Scheme or SBFAS will be extended until March 31, 2036 with a total corpus of Rs 24,736 crore. The scheme aims to incentivise ship building in India and includes a Shipbreaking Credit Note with an allocation of Rs 4,001 crore.

Vaishaw further added, that a National Shipbuilding Mission will also be established to oversee the implementation of all initiatives.

In addition, the Maritime Development Fund or MDF has been approved with a corpus of Rs 25,000 crore to provide long-term financing for the sector.

This includes a Maritime Investment Fund of Rs 20,000 crore with 49% participation from the Government of India and an Interest Incentivisation Fund of Rs 5,000 crore to reduce the effective cost of debt and improve project bankability.

Furthermore, the Shipbuilding Development Scheme or SbDS, with a budgetary outlay of Rs.19,989 crore, aims to expand domestic shipbuilding capacity to 4.5 million gross tonnage annually, support mega shipbuilding clusters and infrastructure expansion.

It will also be used to establish the India Ship Technology Centre under the Indian Maritime University, and provide risk coverage, including insurance support for shipbuilding projects.

The overall package is expected to unlock 4.5 million gross tonnage of shipbuilding capacity, generate nearly 30 lakh jobs, and attract investments of approximately Rs 4.5 lakh crore into India’s maritime sector.

According to Vaishnaw, the initiative will strengthen national, energy, and food security by bringing resilience to critical supply chains and maritime routes.

"It will also reinforce India’s geopolitical resilience and strategic self-reliance, advancing the vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat and positioning India as a competitive force in global shipping and shipbuilding," he said.

Notably, India's maritime sector remains a backbone of its economy, supporting nearly 95% of the nation’s trade by volume and 70% by value.