In the 2019–20 fiscal year, Indian corporations paid $85 billion in freight charges, of which $75 billion went toward using foreign boats.
Two government officials have announced plans to create a new shipping company in India, the third-largest economy in Asia, with the goal of adding at least 1,000 ships to its fleet over the next ten years.Billions of dollars are being invested in infrastructural upgrades by the South Asian nation, which aims to become a global industrial powerhouse.Re-elected to a third term this week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants the nation developed by 2047.
Along with international corporations and the state-run Shipping Corp of India, the yet-to-be-named company will be jointly controlled by state-run companies in the oil, gas, and fertiliser industries, which will supply it with business.
The sources, who asked to remain anonymous since they were not permitted to speak to the media, stated that the goal is to cut freight outgoings to foreign companies by at least a third by 2047.
“As we increase our exports and imports by 2047, current estimates show freight costs will rise to $400 billion,” one of the sources with intimate knowledge of the situation stated.
According to the source, Indian enterprises incurred freight expenditures of $85 billion in the 2019/20 fiscal year, of which $75 billion was attributed to the utilization of foreign boats.
India is turning to international carriers because its maritime fleet has not been able to keep up with the country’s increased trade, which includes the export of refined oil products and the import of energy.
According to the reports, India has a fleet of roughly 1,500 large ships, including dry bulk carriers, LNG carriers, tankers, and container ships. The oil and shipping ministries of India decided in January to collaborate with the planned corporation and all state-run oil companies.
“Tanker acquisition and ownership, operations and other areas of shipping” was one of the areas of knowledge that they would use from the Shipping Corp of India.