The government will soon set up a ₹30,000 crore Maritime Development Fund to support shipbuilding and repair clusters, according to union ports, shipping and waterways minister Sarbananda Sonowal.
This move will supplement the ₹1.5 lakh crore upgrade plan for the ports sector for the next five years, which includes development of six deep draft ports, two transshipment hubs as well as green and smart ports.
“We are also looking at developing hydrogen hub ports and multi-fuel bunkering ecosystem,” Sonowal told ET on the sidelines of an event.
The minister identified shipbuilding as a key focus area for the government.
“Three mega shipbuilding and repair clusters are being planned,” he said, adding that the shipbuilding financial assistance programme is being extended. The proposed Maritime Development Fund with a corpus of ₹30,000 crore was a step in this direction, he said. The government, he said, is also readying a credit note scheme that will offer incentives to ship owners to scrap old vessels in the country and build replacement ships in domestic shipyards.
Sonowal said India plans to be the world leader in ship recycling by 2030.
“Most (85%) of the Indian ship recycling yards are compliant to the Hong Kong convention, which promotes environment- and labour-friendly ship recycling,” he noted, highlighting the efforts undertaken in this direction.
Earlier, speaking at maritime thought leadership forum Sagarmanthan in the national capital, the minister said the country is in a pivotal position to shape global maritime policies and trade.