New Delhi: In a push to promote domestic ship -making and meet the growing demand, the government is ready to provide more than Rs 20,000 crore support for the second phase of ship -making financial aid policy and develop four greenfield shipbuilding and repair hubs over the next six years.For shipbuilding and repair hubs, four land parcels of 2,000-3,000 acres have been identified to develop greenfield shipbuilding and repair hubs in every 2,000–3,000 acres of parcels, Odisha (Kandrapara), AP (Dugrajapatnam), Gujarat (Kandla) and TN (Tuticorin).Emphasis on shipbuilding comes between the requirement of about 112 vessels (an estimated cost of Rs 85,700 crore) to carry raw, petroleum products, LPG, LNG, Black Oil, Bitmen and other products in the next five years. Domestic shipyards are capable of producing only 28 such ships. “Therefore, considering domestic demand, it is the right time to roll out the plan to develop a new shipbuilding hub, considering domestic demand. There is also a direction for the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas to exclude tender for 10 medium range tankers in May.”The Government of Andhra Pradesh has discussed with Imbari Shipbuilding CO, Japan’s largest shipbuilder, and two South Korean Majors – HD Keso and Hanva Ocean for the proposed project in Durgrajapatnam. Currently, India has only eight large, seven mediums and 28 small shipyards. “There is a great ability to fulfill domestic demand and create the ability to become a major global player over the next few years,” said an official.Officials said that a proposal to create a maritime development fund of Rs 25,000 crore would be placed before the cabinet for approval. Fund will provide financial assistance to the shipping sector through equity and loan securities.
