Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on September 24 approved a comprehensive package of Rs 69,725 crore to revitalise India’s shipbuilding and maritime ecosystem. The overall package is expected to unlock 4.5 million Gross Tonnage of shipbuilding capacity, generate nearly 30 lakh jobs, and attract investments of approximately Rs 4.5 lakh crore into India’s maritime sector.
Under this package, the Shipbuilding Financial Assistance Scheme (SBFAS) will be extended until March 31, 2036, with a total corpus of Rs 24,736 crore. The scheme aims to incentivise shipbuilding in India and includes a Shipbreaking Credit Note with an allocation of Rs 4,001 crore. A National Shipbuilding Mision will also be established to oversee the implementation of all initiatives.
The package introduces a four-pillar approach designed to strengthen domestic capacity, improve long-term financing, promote greenfield and brownfield shipyard development, enhance technical capabilities and skilling, and implement legal, taxation, and policy reforms to create a robust maritime infrastructure, according to a Cabinet note. In addition, the Maritime Development Fund (MDF) has been approved with a corpus of Rs 25,000 crore to provide long-term financing for the sector. This includes a Maritime Investment Fund of Rs 20,000 crore with 49 per cent participation from the Government and an Interest Incentivisation Fund of Rs 5,000 crore to reduce the effective cost of debt and improve project bankability.
