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NEW DELHI: In a determination to physique India’s maritime power, trim dependence connected overseas ships and beryllium future-ready to look immoderate proviso concatenation disruption, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced 3 schemes entailing govt concern of implicit Rs 70,000 crore to boost the shipbuilding sector.
These are a portion of the govt’s docket to propel India into the apical 10 countries globally for some shipbuilding and vessel ownership, and summation three-fold the stock of planetary larboard cargo astatine Indian ports.At present, India ranks 16th globally successful some shipbuilding and vessel ownership, and lone 7% of Indian-owned ships are built successful India. Data besides shows that the stock of export-import (EXIM) cargo carried connected Indian ships has declined sharply from 41% successful FY1988 to conscionable 5% successful FY2023.In his code astatine Bhavnagar connected Saturday, PM Modi said this has resulted successful India paying astir Rs 6 lakh crore annually to overseas shipping companies for their services—an magnitude astir equivalent to the country’s defence budget.While the authorities volition supply fiscal assistance to shipbuilders nether the Rs 25,000-crore Shipbuilding Financial Assistance Scheme, the Rs 25,000-crore Maritime Development Fund volition alteration players to get semipermanent and low-cost financing.
The 3rd strategy — Shipbuilding Development Scheme (SDS), worthy Rs 20,000 crore — volition absorption connected providing superior assistance for greenfield shipbuilding mega clusters, done infrastructure enactment for communal maritime facilities and onshore connectivity; superior assistance to existing shipyards for capableness expansion; and constitution of an apex assemblage for capableness development.Sources said the programme has been finalised aft drafting from the acquisition of large maritime nations specified arsenic China and South Korea, which person go apical players successful shipbuilding connected relationship of govt-led fiscal enactment and cluster-based development.
The schemes, having the imaginable to make astir 2 crore nonstop and indirect jobs, are acceptable to get Cabinet support successful the adjacent 2 weeks.Officials said the SDS is important arsenic it seeks to enactment the Indian shipbuilding manufacture successful capableness and capableness creation, and supply recognition hazard covers, thing disposable successful different countries. At present, lone 8 retired of 61 shipyards successful India are ample oregon precise large.On May 14, TOI had reported that the authorities has identified 4 onshore parcels of 2,000-3,000 acres each successful Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu for processing greenfield shipbuilding and repair hubs.
