Cabinet OKs ship-building policy with eye on 40k jobs

Mumbai: The state cabinet on Tuesday approved a ship-building, repair, and recycling policy for the state, which aims to make Maharashtra a national hub for this trade. The policy hopes to attract private investment worth Rs 6,600 crore and generate 40,000 jobs by 2030. The state has a 720km coastline.
"Maharashtra is the first state to draft a policy on this. Now we can also have a ship-building yard like Alang in Gujarat. Our target is to attract one-third of the business in the country and emerge as a key hub," said state ports Minister Nitesh Rane.

He said that by 2047, the state aimed to attract Rs 18,000 crore private investment and create 3.3 lakh jobs. Rane said the country needed to increase its presence in the ship-building industry. "China contributes 50% to global ship-building, Japan has a 15% share, South Korea has a share of 28%. India's share is less than 1%," he said.
In ship repair, India ranked 20th globally, but in ship recycling, India ranked 2nd globally with a 32.6% share, the department said. The policy is in keeping with the Centre's Maritime India Vision 2030 and Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision 2047.
Maharashtra has 10 shipyards, besides 11% of India's capacity and 21% of the country's ship-building output. Under the policy, the state will assist in getting permits and approvals and offering land at concessional rates or 30-year leases, with an option for renewal.
It will also help provide marine shipyard clusters, supportive infrastructure including roads, and capital subsidy up to 15% of the project cost. The state will also provide up to Rs 5 crore as research and development support and Rs 1 crore for skill development per project.