Union Cabinet's Approval for Maritime Sector Package
The Union cabinet, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved a comprehensive package valued at ₹69,725 crore for the shipping and maritime sectors on Wednesday.
Key Components of the Package
- National Mission for Shipbuilding: Includes various schemes to boost the shipbuilding industry.
- Maritime Development Fund: A dedicated fund of ₹25,000 crore.
- Shipbuilding Financial Assistance Scheme: Enhanced to ₹24,736 crore.
- Shipbuilding Development Scheme: Valued at ₹19,989 crore.
Objectives and Impacts
- Unlock 4.5 million gross tonnage capacity.
- Generate jobs and attract investments worth ₹4.5 lakh crore.
- Promote domestic capacity and improve financing.
- Enhance ship technology research and shipyard development.
Additional Details
- "Shipbuilding is the mother of the heavy engineering industry," stated Ashwini Vaishnaw, outlining the plan's 10-year duration.
- Incentivizes shipbuilding with a shipbreaking credit note of ₹4,001 crore.
- Requires a minimum of 30% domestic value-addition to avail sops.
Strategic Approaches
- Focus on expanding domestic shipbuilding capacity.
- Support mega shipbuilding clusters and infrastructure expansion.
- Establish the India Ship Technology Centre under the Indian Maritime University.
- Provide risk coverage and insurance support for shipbuilding projects.
Financial Structure
- Maritime Investment Fund: ₹20,000 crore with 49% central participation.
- Interest Incentivisation Fund: ₹5,000 crore to reduce the effective cost of debt.
Other Cabinet Approvals
- Sanctioned a ₹1,866 crore productivity-linked bonus for 1.09 million railway employees.
- Approval for the four-laning of the Sahebganj-Areraj-Bettiah national highway 139W and doubling of the Bakhtiyarpur-Rajgir-Tilaiya railway line at ₹2,192 crore in Bihar.
