THEBUSINESSBYTES BUREAU

NEW DELHI, AUGUST 4, 2026

The government has rolled out a series of initiatives, including a Rs 24,736-crore financial assistance scheme for shipbuilding and a Rs 25,000-crore Maritime Development Fund, to strengthen India's shipbuilding ecosystem and position the country as a global maritime hub.

Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal shared the details in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

The Shipbuilding Financial Assistance Scheme (SBFAS), approved as an extension of the earlier Shipbuilding Financial Assistance Policy (SBFAP), has an outlay of Rs 24,736 crore and is aimed at addressing the cost disadvantages faced by Indian shipyards vis-a-vis their global counterparts.

The government issued the operational guidelines for the scheme on December 26, 2025, to facilitate its implementation.

To address long-term financing needs of the sector, the government has also established a Maritime Development Fund (MDF) with a corpus of Rs 25,000 crore. The fund is designed to provide long-term financial support to the shipbuilding and maritime sectors through a combination of equity financing and debt cost reduction mechanisms.

The MDF comprises a Maritime Investment Fund (MIF) of Rs 20,000 crore, in which the Government of India has a 49 per cent participation, to support equity financing in the maritime sector. It also includes an Interest Incentivization Fund (IIF) of Rs 5,000 crore to lower the effective cost of debt for shipyards.

The guidelines for the Maritime Development Fund were issued on February 20, 2026, while SBI Ventures Limited was appointed as the fund manager for the Maritime Investment Fund on May 26, 2026.

The government has also established the National Shipbuilding Mission (NSbM), an inter-ministerial body, as the nodal agency to oversee the implementation of key shipbuilding initiatives, including the Shipbuilding Financial Assistance Scheme (SBFAS) and the Shipbuilding Development Scheme (SBDS).

Under the Shipbuilding Development Scheme, the government has granted in-principle approval to proposals for the development of greenfield shipbuilding clusters in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu. It has also accorded similar approval to three brownfield capacity expansion projects proposed by existing shipyards after appraisal by the National Shipbuilding Mission.

The initiatives are aimed at enhancing India's shipbuilding capacity, improving the competitiveness of domestic shipyards and transforming the country into a global hub for shipbuilding and maritime activities in line with the Maritime India Vision 2030 and the Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision 2047.