India excels in small ship manufacturing, says Kumar
The Government is encouraging more FDI in the shipping sector, allowing joint ventures in ship ownership and seeking Indian diaspora investments in the shipping sector.
“We want to liberalize our registration regime, encourage more FDI in shipping and allow joint ventures in ship ownership. We want overseas Indian citizens to invest in the Indian shipping sector,” said Amitabh Kumar, Director General of Shipping & Additional Secretary to the Government.
Addressing the FICCI webinar on ‘Business Continuity Plan For Indian Maritime Sector and Path To Recovery Post COVID-19’, he highlighted the long-term vision of the Indian maritime industry.
“We are working to become a pioneer in ‘contact-less port call’, where any ship or port doesn’t engage in any human interaction whenever the ship calls the port. This is our three-year vision.”
Elaborating on India’s excellence in small ship manufacturing, Kumar said that the government is coming up with the first Maritime Cluster in Goa and over 100 companies are already part of this.
“We know that we have strength in building small ships, offshore vessels. We need to concentrate on that and become better so that we not only get orders from Indian flag vessels but it becomes a hub for international shipbuilding. Once we have gained this expertise, we can scale it up to large vessels,” he said.
“Our long-term strategies include that we want more ships under the Indian flag and we want to use cargo as an asset to building maritime industry including shipping, shipbuilding, repairs and manning,” said Kumar.
“The maritime industry has played a very essential role in the short-term emergency response to COVID-19 by facilitating the transport of vital commodities and products,” added Capt BVJK Sharma, Chairman (Shipping), FICCI Committee on Transport Infrastructure and Director-Ports (CEO Office) Adani Ports and SEZ Ltd.
FICCI has been working with the government for the action plan required for the industry concerns.
“Make in India program will surely double the number of Indian flag vessels,” added Capt. Sharma. #ships #maritime #vessels #irclass /fiinews.com
