India will construct 112 vessels through joint ventures with oil-sector public enterprises as part of a long-term plan to expand the national fleet, Union Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said in Visakhapatnam on Monday.
The announcement coincided with the formal reception of the Shipping Corporation of India’s very large gas carrier Shivalik under the Indian flag at Visakhapatnam Port.
“SCI is currently working with oil PSUs to aggregate demand for 112 vessels and form a joint venture for long-term fleet augmentation,” Sonowal said.
He added that the initiative is intended to support efforts to curb foreign-exchange outflows on freight payments to foreign carriers.
The vessel construction initiative aligns with a government program to accelerate shipbuilding and maritime capacity development. This includes a ₹69,725-crore support package for shipbuilding, an extension of the Shipbuilding Financial Assistance Scheme through 2036 with a ₹24,736-crore corpus, a ₹25,000-crore Maritime Development Fund, and a ₹19,989-crore Shipbuilding Development Scheme aimed at achieving 4.5 million GT of annual capacity.
The ministry also plans to establish Bharat Container Shipping Line to increase India’s container presence.
Shipping Corporation of India Ltd. (SCI) is a government-owned enterprise under the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways. It is India’s largest shipping company, operating a fleet of 58 vessels totaling 5.26 million deadweight tonnes across crude oil, product, bulk, container, LPG, and offshore segments.
