Steps on to revive 27 shipyards: Gadkari

The Government is taking all steps to revive 27 shipyards facing problems in unlocking capital worth over Rs 1 lakh crore, Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari said. The government is committed to reviving them on the lines of stuck road projects, where it has rolled out a majority of the Rs 3.8 lakh crore stuck projects, he said.

“As road sector companies were facing problems, in the shipping sector also 27 shipyards are facing severe problems.

A huge 1 lakh crore of their capital is stuck. We are trying to revive the sector,” Mr. Gadkari said at the media launch of the upcoming Maritime India summit.

Troubled sector

The government had said recently that India’s troubled shipping sector was in a dire need to change its fleet, which had as many as 42 per cent of the vessels that had crossed 20 years of age.

“The shipping sector has been passing through tumultuous waters in recent years.

“There is urgent need to increase India’s shipping fleet. With asset prices currently being serendipitously low, the time is right to acquire new generation ships to replace ageing ones,” The Economic Survey said on February 28.

Maritime Investors meet

Mr. Gadkari said that the government was committed to revive and fast-track the growth of the sector, and that the upcoming Maritime Investors meet would prove to be a shot in the arm for the industry with an investment of Rs.1.20 lakh crore already lined up.

Sharp decline

There had been a sharp decline in the share of Indian ships in the carriage of India’s overseas trade from about 40 per cent in the late 1980s to 7.45 per cent in 2014-15.

The significance of the sector could be understood from the fact that about 95 per cent of India’s trade by volume and 68 per cent in terms of value is transported by sea.

As on November 30, 2015 India had a fleet strength of 1,246 ships with dead weight tonnage (DWT) of 15.37 million.

Despite having one of the largest merchant shipping fleets among developing countries, India’s share in the total world DWT is only 0.9 per cent as on 1 July 2015.
Source: The Hindu