New Delhi: Shipping Corp. of India and state-run oil and gas companies together aim to float tenders this financial year to procure 62 vessels for ₹51,000 crore as the ongoing disrupts essential supplies, prompting the country to cut reliance on foreign carriers.
The government wants to significantly , including container vessels, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carriers, crude oil tankers, and environment-friendly green tugs, as geopolitical tensions disrupt maritime trade routes, a senior government official said. These ships would be made in India, as the government looks to strengthen the country’s manufacturing capacity.
“We have a target of floating tenders for 62 vessels within his year. Out of that, tenders for 34 vessels have already been floated,” Mukesh Mangal, additional secretary, ministry of ports, shipping and waterways, said at a press briefing in the national capital on Thursday.
These 62 vessels would have a total 2.85 million gross tonnage, which refers to the overall internal volume of a ship used to calculate port charges and crew requirements, among others.
The planned procurement aims to strengthen India’s ability to withstand external shocks, including geopolitical tensions and supply chain disruptions that have increasingly affected global shipping lanes. Enhancing domestic fleet capacity is seen as critical to ensuring trade continuity, reducing dependence on foreign carriers, and improving cost efficiency.
Mangal said the move is aimed at ensuring adequate availability of vessels, including container vessels and crude and gas carriers, for energy security.
He noted that the government has aggregated demand for 437 vessels to be manufactured and procured till 2041-2042. These include 58 vessels to be procured by oil and gas public sector undertakings, 216 by Shipping Corp., and 51 by Bharat Container Shipping Line (BCSL), the proposed joint venture company involving the Shipping Corp. of India, Container Corp. of India and several port authorities.
In a bid to strengthen domestic shipbuilding while addressing capability gaps, the government is considering a structured tendering approach for vessel procurement, Mangal said. Under this model, a portion of the total order—such as two out of eight vessels—may be built overseas, while the remaining ships would be manufactured within India.
“So most of the things are going domestic. There are certain things where domestic, if not possible, then structure tenders are there,” he added.
Mangal noted that specialized vessels like tankers require advanced technology and skilled manpower, which domestic shipyards are still developing. As a result, a phased approach is seen as necessary to balance immediate requirements with long-term capacity building.
Additionally, some tenders are expected to follow a global bidding route with a Right of First Refusal (RoFR) clause, allowing Indian shipyards the opportunity to match the lowest bid and secure contracts.
Highlighting a key challenge in India’s shipbuilding sector, Mangal said that shipyards often lack visibility of orders despite the intent to build vessels.
Last year, the Union cabinet of ₹69,725 crore to revitalize India’s shipbuilding and maritime ecosystem. The package introduces a four-pillar approach designed to strengthen domestic capacity, improve long-term financing, promote greenfield and brownfield shipyard development, enhance technical capabilities and skilling, and implement legal, taxation, and policy reforms to create a robust maritime infrastructure.