In an apparent attempt to secure collaboration in advancing India’s shipbuilding sector, an Indian delegation headed by Secretary T.K. Ramachandran of the Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways paid a visit to South Korea’s main shipyards earlier this month. Industry reports claim that the delegates visited the shipyards of Korea’s major three shipbuilders, HD Hyundai, Hanwha Ocean, and Samsung Heavy Industries, in Ulsan and Geoje, South Gyeongsang Province, as well as Seoul. The Indian government is making a fresh effort to improve its standing in the international shipbuilding sector at the time of this visit. In an effort to strengthen its economy, India is allegedly planning to add at least 1,000 commercial ships to its fleet over the course of ten years, citing concerns about the exorbitant shipping rates paid to international shippers.
As the world’s second-largest steelmaker, India is also eager to expand its steelmaking capacity into the shipbuilding sector. Despite lacking shipyards capable of constructing large vessels such as very large gas carriers, very large crude oil carriers and container carriers, the country plans to develop large-scale shipbuilding clusters in multiple regions along its eastern and western coasts, including one in the western state of Gujarat, the home of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
As part of a goal of becoming one of the world’s top 10 shipbuilding nations by 2030 and top five by 2047, India has increasingly made fresh overtures to Korean and Japanese shipbuilders. During a government council meeting in September, the Indian minister cited Hanwha Ocean and Samsung Heavy Industries, as well as Japan’s Mitsubishi Shipbuilding and Mitsui Engineering, as potential partners for the planned shipbuilding cluster.
