Government to revive shipbuilding subsidy scheme

New Delhi, Oct 7 (IANS) The government Tuesday said it planned to revive the shipbuilding subsidy scheme, which offered several subsidies to the industry but was stopped in August 2007.

'We have already held interactions with stakeholders and are formulating a new modified shipbuilding subsidy scheme,' Minister of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways T.

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R. Baalu said.

'We will circulate our proposal for comments of appraising agencies and ministries this week,' Baalu told reporters on the sidelines of a conference on shipbuilding, organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci).

'We are also making efforts for the fiscal structure to offset the disadvantage the shipbuilding industry is currently facing so that the industry in India grows to world standards and we can attain self-sufficiency in the sector,' Baalu said.

'The Indian merchant fleet, with an average age of 18.3 years, carries about 12 percent of the trade and, therefore, has a huge potential for growth. The projected turnover in this sector is Rs.762 billion ($17 billion) with the world share of 7.5 percent by 2016-17,' he added.

Baalu said under the National Maritime Development Programme (NMDP), the government has already decided to set up two international size shipyards.

'We are discussing the modalities regarding land and other infrastructural facilities with the state governments. We have already received nine proposals for east coast and three proposals for west coast,' he said.

A consultant is being appointed by the nodal agency, the Mumbai Port Trust, for the west coast, while several possibilities are being explored for the east coast,' the minister added.