The government has notified the operational guidelines for two major shipbuilding initiatives – the Shipbuilding Financial Assistance Scheme and the Shipbuilding Development Scheme to strengthen India’s domestic shipbuilding capacity and improve global competitiveness.

Ports, Shipping and Waterways Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said that these guidelines create a stable and transparent framework that will revive domestic shipbuilding, boosting forward and backward linkage. He said, this will enable large-scale investment and build world-class capacity, positioning India as a major maritime nation on the path to Viksit Bharat and Aatmanirbhar Bharat.

 

Mr Sonowal said, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership has given India’s shipbuilding sector a decisive policy reset. He said, both schemes will remain valid until 31st March, 2036. Under the Shipbuilding Financial Assistance Scheme, which has a total corpus of 24 thousand 736 crore rupees, the government will provide financial assistance ranging from 15 per cent to 25 per cent per vessel, depending on the vessel category.

 

The scheme introduces graded support for small normal, large normal and specialised vessels. The scheme provides for the establishment of a National Shipbuilding Mission to ensure coordinated planning and execution of shipbuilding initiatives. The Shipbuilding Development Scheme, with a budgetary outlay of 19 thousand 989 crore rupees, focuses on long-term capacity and capability creation.

 

The scheme provides for the development of greenfield shipbuilding clusters, modernisation of existing brownfield shipyards, and the establishment of an India Ship Technology Centre under the Indian Maritime University to support research, design, innovation and skills development.