Union Cabinet likely to consider ₹70,000 cr maritime initiatives soon

Queries sent to the ministry of ports shipping and waterways remained unanswered at the time of going to press

The Union Cabinet may soon consider a ₹70,000 crore package, comprising three schemes, to boost India’s maritime and indigenous shipbuilding capacities, according to officials in the know of the deliberations. 

Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced a slew of shipbuilding initiatives worth ₹70,000 crore, citing ₹6 trillion paid to foreign shipping operators for Indian goods a year. The proposals include around ₹25,000 crore Maritime Development Fund (MDF), around ₹25,000 crore shipbuilding cluster programme for development of greenfield shipyards, expansion of brownfield shipyards and shipbuilding ecosystems, and approximately ₹20,000 crore revamped state support programme for shipbuilding — the second