(MENAFN- Live Mint)

New Delhi: India is charting an ambitious course to revive its shipbuilding prowess, with the ports, shipping and waterways ministry planning high-level roadshows in Japan, South Korea and some Scandinavian nations to attract investment in shipbuilding, repair and maritime technology, two officials aware of the development told Mint.

The roadshows are likely to be held in the last quarter of current fiscal year and the early part of next fiscal year, they said.

The move follows the Centre's approval of a ₹70,000-crore financial package last month for building infrastructure to attract investment in shipbuilding, repairs and breaking, while also promoting domestic ship ownership and enhancing port infrastructure.

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“Now that the financial incentive package is in place, the government intends to push afresh for investment in India's maritime sector. The plan is now to take an Indian delegation comprising government officials and industry players to key and mature maritime markets with the target of getting concrete investment proposals," said the first official cited above.

“The aim is to bring Korean and Japanese ship-leasing and shipbuilding companies to set up operations in India, either on their own or in alliance with Indian public and private sector companies," the official added.

During the early 2000s, India's shipbuilding industry produced over 3,00,000 gross tonnage (GT) and ranked among three top 10 nations. The global downturn in shipbuilding significantly hit Indian shipyards and the country's global share fell to sub-1% from 1.5%.

The government's renewed outreach signals a shift from broad-based promotional overseas visits to a focused, mission-mode drive for technology transfer and long-term partnerships.

The officials said under the government's Amrit Kaal Vision 2047, India aims to be a self-reliant maritime economy-among the world's top 10 shipbuilding nations by 2030 and in the top five by 2047.

The government had sent a delegation of officials and industry players to Korea last year and to Japan early this year to promote investment in India's maritime sector. Union minister for ports, shipping and waterways Sarbananda Sonowal also went on a five-day visit to Norway and Denmark in June to strengthen maritime ties and promote the blue economy.

“We had received several queries from potential investors during the earlier rounds of visits about what India has to offer in terms of creating an ecosystem for ship-building and repairs," said the second official quoted above.“With policy initiatives clearly defined towards this goal and various changes being made in maritime legislations, key investors would be approached afresh to get investment commitments."

“The focus of new round of roadshows would be to get Koreans to put up shipbuilding infrastructure in the country. The talks would be for funding as well as technology transfer. A similar exercise is also on with Japan," the official added.“Scandinavian countries have rich maritime history and are now leaders in new age technology being used for making green ships that are both fuel efficient with less emissions. The idea is to take up the share of India in global shipbuilding from 22nd position and position the country as top 10 shipbuilders by 2030 and top 5 by 2047."

There was no response to queries sent to the ministry of ports, shipping and waterways till press time.

The government is on a mission mode for scaling up shipping infrastructure in the country. It is finalizing a ship-building mission that would put in place a complete ecosystem, including policy prescriptions and incentive schemes to promote ship manufacturing.

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Under Amrit Kaal Vision 2047 Action Plan prepared by the ministry, a total of 17 initiatives have been identified for shipbuilding and repair and ship recycling. Some of these plans initiated have been incorporated in the ₹70,000 crore financial package, which includes a ₹25,000 crore Maritime Development Fund, another ₹25,000 crore scheme for new shipbuilding financial assistance scheme (SBFA), and ₹20,000 crore for a ship cluster development programme.

“This is an excellent move by the government. Currently, the shipbuilding capability (ex-China) resides majorly in Korea and Japan. Hence, it is imperative that India makes a strong effort to attract Japanese and Korean companies to come and set up shipbuilding facilities in India," said Kuljit Singh, partner and national infrastructure leader at EY India.“Many of these foreign companies may be able to provide valuable technical upgrade to Indian public sector ship building companies by setting up JVs with them for export and Indian markets."

“Shipbuilding hubs like Busan and Yokohama have gradually evolved into vibrant industrial and logistics ecosystems, demonstrating how a well-planned maritime strategy can anchor urban transformation. India's Maritime Development Fund is expected to set a similar momentum in motion," said Anshuman Magazine, chairman and chief executive officer, India, South-East Asia, Middle East & Africa at CBRE, a global consultancy fund.

“From the infrastructure perspective, shipbuilding clusters tend to have a multiplier effect-boosting demand for port-linked industrial land, logistics facilities, and housing ecosystems. As these coastal belts mature into integrated hubs, they are expected to strengthen position in the global supply chain and advance the broader vision of Viksit Bharat," Magazine said.

The initiatives for shipbuilding and repair also include extending the policy for shipbuilding for 5-10 years beyond FY26, promoting Atmanirbhar Bharat provisions, grading of shipyards based on technical capacities, simplification of customs procedures for import of vessel spares, etc.

Initiatives have also been identified for ship recycling, which include expansion of Alang Shipyard, leveraging vehicle scrapping policy, developing new ship recycling locations at Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal to cater to markets such as those in South East Asia.

According to Vision 2047, India needs a strong shipbuilding ecosystem with adequate infrastructure and policy enablers to become a leader in the shipbuilding, repair and recycling industry.

Policy measures pursued by other key shipbuilding nations suggest that they have pursued a mix of fiscal and non-fiscal incentives to encourage development of the industry. Similar incentives are to be introduced in India to keep pace with the leading nations, the vision document said.

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According to the ministry, the global shipbuilding market, estimated at about $70 billion, is primarily dominated by China, South Korea and Japan.

India currently has 28 shipyards-six under central public sector, two under state governments and 20 under private Sector.

The global ship repair market is at about $12 billion. Shipyards in China, Singapore, Bahrain, Dubai and other West Asia markets account for a major share.

In ship-recycling, India is one the market leaders, with about 25% share. However, there is potential competition from countries such as Bangladesh and Pakistan on account of higher yield and limited regulatory compliances.

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