§1How big it is

§2Ways to get started

  • Steel fabrication, blasting and painting sub-contracts for shipyards
  • Marine electrical, HVAC and outfitting services
  • Boat building in FRP for fishing, tourism and inland waterways
  • Ship chandling and port-side logistics (needs port licence)
  • Crew manning agency (needs DG Shipping RPS licence)

See the Business Encyclopedia

§3Hubs and clusters

  • Mumbai - Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd (PIB backgrounder Oct 2025)
  • Kolkata - Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Ltd (PIB backgrounder Oct 2025)
  • Visakhapatnam - Hindustan Shipyard Ltd (PIB backgrounder Oct 2025)
  • Kochi - Cochin Shipyard; planned Rs 3,700 crore fabrication facility (PIB backgrounder Oct 2025)
  • Tamil Nadu - planned shipbuilding complexes by Cochin Shipyard and Mazagon Dock, incl. a Rs 15,000 crore facility with one million GT annual capacity (PIB backgrounder Oct 2025)

§4Licences and registration

  1. DG Shipping registration / approval as applicable (shipyard, ship repair unit, recruitment and placement service licence for crew agencies)
  2. Vessel registration under the Merchant Shipping Act, 2025
  3. Port authority licence for stevedoring, cargo handling or port services
  4. Classification society approval for vessel design and build
  5. Customs broker licence (CBIC) for clearance work
  6. Udyam Registration (MSME) - free, online, PAN + Aadhaar based
  7. GST registration (mandatory above turnover threshold or for inter-state supply)
  8. Shops & Establishments registration or Factory Licence (Factories Act) depending on set-up
  9. State Pollution Control Board Consent to Establish / Operate per CPCB 2025 Red/Orange/Green/White/Blue category (White exempt)
  10. IEC - Importer Exporter Code from DGFT (only if importing or exporting)

§5Regulators

  • Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways
  • Directorate General of Shipping (DG Shipping) - ship registration, survey, seafarer certification
  • Indian Register of Shipping and other classification societies - vessel class
  • Major Port Authorities; State Maritime Boards for non-major ports
  • Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) - national waterways

§6Government help

  • Shipbuilding Financial Assistance Scheme - Rs 24,736 crore: 15% assistance for vessels below Rs 100 crore, 20% above Rs 100 crore, 25% for green / hybrid / specialised vessels; minimum 30% domestic value addition; ship-breaking credit note worth 40% of scrap value; valid until March 2036 [PIB Oct 2025]
  • Maritime Development Fund - Rs 25,000 crore (Rs 20,000 crore Maritime Investment Fund; Rs 5,000 crore Interest Incentivization Fund with up to 3% interest incentive on loans to Indian shipyards) [PIB Oct 2025]
  • Shipbuilding Development Scheme - Rs 19,989 crore for greenfield and brownfield shipbuilding clusters, risk coverage and capability development, up to March 2036 [PIB Oct 2025]
  • Infrastructure status for large ships (19 Sep 2025); Right of First Refusal for Indian shipyards; ships under Rs 200 crore to be procured from Indian yards under Make in India Order 2017 [PIB Oct 2025]
  • Sagarmala programme; Green Tug Transition Programme; Harit Nauka guidelines [PIB Oct 2025]
  • Cross-sector schemes: Udyam-linked MSME benefits, PMEGP, CGTMSE credit guarantee, Stand-Up India, Startup India (DPIIT recognition), RoDTEP / duty drawback and Export Promotion Mission for exporters

All schemes

§7For exports

  • EEPC India (ships, boats and marine engineering goods)
  • DGFT

§8Pros and cons

Merits

  • Large, long-tenure support: Rs 69,725 crore package valid to March 2036 [PIB Oct 2025]
  • Assistance of 15-25% per vessel and procurement preference for Indian yards [PIB Oct 2025]
  • New shipbuilding clusters are meant to integrate MSMEs into supply chains [PIB Oct 2025]

Demerits

  • Shipyards are very capital-heavy with long build cycles
  • Incentives need minimum 30% domestic value addition [PIB Oct 2025]
  • Global shipbuilding is dominated by large foreign yards; small firms enter only as sub-contractors
  • Most support goes to yards and clusters, not directly to small suppliers

Sources

  1. PIB backgrounder: Setting Sail - India's Shipbuilding Revival (14 Oct 2025)