India’s seafaring workforce has surged from 1.25 lakh a decade ago to over three lakh today, placing the nation among the top three global suppliers of trained seafarers, Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal said on Friday.
Addressing the 10th convocation of the Indian Maritime University (IMU) in Chennai, Sonowal said the growth has created vast career opportunities in navigation, ship operations, logistics, and allied maritime industries, both in India and abroad.
The event also underscored the transformation of India’s maritime sector under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership. Sonowal pointed out that the Union Cabinet this week cleared a comprehensive package of ₹69,725 crore to revitalise shipbuilding and the broader maritime ecosystem. The package is expected to unlock 4.5 million gross tonnage of shipbuilding capacity, generate nearly 30 lakh jobs, and attract investments worth around ₹4.5 lakh crore.
Congratulating 2,196 graduating IMU students, Sonowal said, “You are entering a sector that has been revitalised over the past decade and is central to India’s economic, strategic, and global ambitions.”
India’s maritime sector has recorded major strides since 2014. Ports have undergone extensive modernisation, reducing average turnaround time to 0.9 days — ahead of advanced nations such as the US, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Germany, and Singapore. Nine Indian ports now figure among the world’s top 100. The ₹76,000-crore Vadhavan port project, currently under construction, will rank among the largest container ports globally.
Cargo movement through inland waterways has grown sevenfold, while coastal shipping volumes have risen by over 150 per cent in the past decade. The government has also unveiled the ‘Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision 2047’, a long-term roadmap involving ₹80 lakh crore of investments across ports, shipbuilding, coastal and inland waterways, and green shipping.
As part of its sustainability drive, India has introduced green shipping corridors, green hydrogen bunkering at major ports, and methanol-fuelled vessels. “These transformative measures are expected to generate 25–30 lakh direct and indirect jobs in shipbuilding, ports, shipping, logistics, and allied industries,” Sonowal said.
