India becomes world's top ship recycling nation, achieves MIV 2030 goal ahead of schedule
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "India becomes world's top ship recycling nation, achieves MIV 2030 goal ahead of schedule")
Representative image. Photograph: (Unsplash)
MoPSW launched the Ship-breaking Credit Note policy, allowing ship owners to receive credits worth 40% of a vessel's scrap value. The credit can be used to pay up to 5% of the cost of a new ship built at an Indian shipyard, boosting both ship recycling and domestic shipbuilding.
India became the world's leading ship recycling country in 2025. Ranking first globally, India's share of global ship recycling upsurged to 35.4 per cent in 2025 from 30.1 per cent in 2024, according to the latest data released by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
Ship recycling in India has increased significantly to 2.99 million gross tons (GT) in 2025, rising approximately 60 per cent from 1.86 million GT in 2024. After this milestone, the target set under Maritime India Vision (MIV) 2030 to become the leading ship recycling nation of the world has been achieved well before the schedule.
This milestone highlights the success of maritime sector reforms and ease-of-doing-business measures introduced by the Government of India under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In response to the development, the Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways (MoPSW), Sarbananda Sonowal, said, "India's emergence as the world's top ship recycling nation reflects the success of sustained policy reforms, industry efforts and adherence to international environmental and safety standards under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It reinforces India's position as a global hub for responsible and sustainable ship recycling."
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Recycling of Ships Act, 2019
To strengthen the ship recycling industry, the government enacted the Recycling of Ships Act, 2019, creating a regulatory framework in line with the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships, which India ratified in 2019. The Centre has also extended financial support of Rs 53.5 crore for the modernisation of ship recycling facilities, enabling 115 yards to meet HKC standards and improve environmental and safety compliance.
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In addition, MoPSW initiated the Ship-breaking Credit Note policy, under which ship owners receive a credit note similar to 40 per cent of the scrap value of a recycled ship. This credit can be utilised toward payment of up to 5 per cent of the value of a new vessel designed at an Indian shipyard, for both ship recycling and domestic shipbuilding.
MoPSW regularly involves the Gujarat Maritime Board, global shipping companies, the Ship Recycling Industries Association, cash buyers, classification societies and international organisations to figure out challenges implementing targeted solutions. The Indian government is actively going after the inclusion of Indian ship recycling yards in the approved list of recycling facilities of the European Union. Continuous participation with the required officials is underway to facilitate approvals.
India is targeting a significant increase in its ship recycling capacity, aiming to raise it to nearly 9 million light displacement tonnes (LDT) through the proposed expansion of the Alang Ship Recycling Yard. To facilitate this growth, the Gujarat government has developed a comprehensive master plan focused on meeting future demand, upgrading infrastructure and strengthening India's position in the global ship recycling industry.
