India has big opportunity to become global shipbuilding hub, says Rajnath Singh

India's ambition to become a global shipbuilding hub received a significant boost on October 15, 2024, when Defence Minister Rajnath Singh virtually presided over the Bhumi Pujan ceremony for five critical expansion projects — three at Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) in Kolkata and two at Yantra India Limited. This development is not merely ceremonial; it represents a strategic inflection point in India's defence industrial journey, rooted in the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in May 2020. The initiative, announced under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Package worth ₹20 lakh crore, explicitly identified defence manufacturing as a key sector for import substitution and export promotion. Article 298 of the Constitution empowers the Union and States to carry on trade or business, providing the constitutional basis for public sector enterprises like GRSE and Yantra India Limited to operate commercially. GRSE, a Miniratna Category-I Defence PSU under the Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence, has a legacy dating back to 1884 as a private yard, nationalised in 1960. It has built over 780 vessels, including advanced frigates like INS Shivalik and corvettes like INS Kamorta. The three new projects — a new modular shipbuilding facility, a modernised dry dock, and an advanced automation centre — will enhance GRSE's capacity to build larger, more complex warships simultaneously, reducing construction timelines by up to 30%. Yantra India Limited, formed in October 2021 after the corporatisation of the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) under the Defence Production & Supply Chain Management (DPSCM) framework, focuses on ammunition, explosives, and weapon systems. Its two new projects — a next-generation artillery ammunition plant and a precision-guided munitions facility — directly address critical gaps exposed during the 2020 Galwan Valley standoff with China. The Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2020, which replaced the Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) 2016, introduced categories like 'Buy (Indian-IDDM)' — Indigenously Designed, Developed and Manufactured — giving priority to domestic firms. This policy shift, coupled with the Positive Indigenisation Lists (four lists issued between 2021–2023 covering 4,600+ items), creates a guaranteed domestic market. Economically, the global shipbuilding market is projected to reach $210 billion by 2030, with South Korea, China, and Japan dominating 90% of orders. India's current share is under 1%, but with a 7,500 km coastline, 12 major ports, and a strategic location on global shipping lanes, the potential is immense. The Sagarmala Programme (2015), Maritime India Vision 2030, and the National Maritime Heritage Complex at Lothal reflect a holistic maritime strategy. Geopolitically, a robust shipbuilding base strengthens India's role as a net security provider in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), supporting SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) doctrine. It also enables defence exports — India targets $5 billion in defence exports by 2025, up from ₹16,000 crore in 2023–24. However, challenges remain: skill gaps, supply chain dependencies on imported steel and electronics, and the need for a stable export credit framework. The recently notified Defence Production and Export Promotion Policy (DPEPP) 2020 and the establishment of the Defence Investor Cell aim to address these. For aspirants, this event encapsulates the convergence of defence modernisation, industrial policy, constitutional federalism, and maritime strategy — a microcosm of New India's strategic architecture.