India needs an 11-fold jump in shipbuilding output to match global leaders: FICCI-EY

India accounted for just 0.075% of global merchant ship deliveries in 2025, highlighting the scale of the challenge facing the country’s ambition to emerge as a leading shipbuilding nation. Indian shipyards delivered vessels aggregating 57,637 gross tonnes (GT) during the year, against global deliveries of 77.28 million GT, according to a FICCI-EY report released at the FICCI Maritime India Conference & Expo in Mumbai. 

China, South Korea, and Japan together accounted for 94.2% of global ship deliveries while Vietnam’s output alone was more than 15 times that of India. India ranked 15th among individual shipbuilding economies in 2025, marginally behind Norway, which delivered 59,489 GT, but ahead of Romania at 54,355 GT. 

The report, titled Optimising India's Shipbuilding and Ship Repair Capacity: Roadmap for Industrial Scale-up, calls for an integrated approach to expanding shipbuilding and ship repair capabilities. It recommends linking policy support to measurable outcomes such as order inflows, delivery performance, and domestic value addition, rather than focusing solely on capacity creation. 

The report notes that the ₹69,725-crore maritime package approved by the Union Cabinet in September 2025 has established a policy and financing framework for the sector's expansion. However, translating this support into globally competitive industrial capacity will require sustained orders, stronger domestic supply chains and improved execution capabilities. 

Defence orders provide a base, but merchant shipbuilding needs to scale 

India's shipbuilding output has remained relatively modest despite fluctuations in annual deliveries. Output peaked at 72,137 GT in 2021 before declining to 57,637 GT in 2025. The country's share of global deliveries remained below 0.12% throughout the period, indicating that the increase in output has yet to translate into sustained growth or a meaningful improvement in its global standing. 

The report points out that global maritime industrial competitiveness is not determined by volume production alone. Countries can build their strengths through specialised vessel construction, ship repair and conversion, and marine engineering services. For India, the opportunity lies in leveraging its existing shipyard capabilities, domestic demand and supplier base to scale selected vessel categories and lifecycle services. 

The country's principal defence shipyards have substantial orderbooks, although these remain concentrated in naval and government-led programmes. Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders reported an orderbook of ₹27,415 crore as of September 30, 2025, while Cochin Shipyard had orders worth more than ₹22,000 crore at the end of FY26. Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers reported an orderbook of ₹15,324 crore as of March 31, 2026. 

While these orderbooks provide visibility for domestic shipyards, the report highlights the need to broaden the demand base beyond defence and government procurement to build a sustainable commercial shipbuilding ecosystem. 

Ageing fleet offers replacement opportunity 

India's merchant fleet presents a significant medium-term opportunity for domestic shipbuilders. As of December 2025, approximately two-thirds of the country's fleet was either already more than 20 years old or expected to reach that age within the next five years. 

Although vessel age alone does not determine replacement decisions, the ageing fleet, alongside evolving environmental regulations and operational requirements, is expected to drive demand for fleet modernisation and vessel renewal. The addition of 92 vessels to the Indian fleet during FY26 also points to continued expansion, particularly in the coastal shipping segment. 

India's seaborne trade volumes further underline the potential for domestic vessel demand. The country handled 860.72 million tonnes (MT) of seaborne cargo in 2024, comprising 698.54 MT of discharged cargo and 162.18 MT of loaded cargo. India ranked second globally in discharged cargo and 14th in loaded cargo, with imports accounting for approximately 81% of the total volume. 

Ambitious targets require sustained capacity creation 

The government has outlined an ambitious roadmap for the maritime sector through Maritime India Vision 2030 and Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision (MAKV) 2047. While the former established priorities around port capacity, coastal shipping and shipbuilding clusters, MAKV 2047 expands the framework through more than 300 initiatives across 11 thematic areas. 

The roadmap targets a place among the world's top 10 shipbuilding nations by 2030 and the top five by 2047. It also envisages annual shipbuilding capacity of 4.5 million GT and Indian-owned tonnage of approximately 100 million GT by 2047. 

The scale of the challenge, however, remains considerable. Based on 2025 output levels, India would have needed to increase its delivered tonnage approximately 11-fold to match the output of the fifth-largest shipbuilding economy. At 4.5 million GT, its annual production would have accounted for around 5.8% of global deliveries in 2025. 

The report highlights that the top-five global ranking and the 4.5-million-GT capacity target represent different levels of ambition. India could potentially achieve a top-five position at a lower output level, depending on changes in global production and its own delivery performance. However, reaching the 4.5-million-GT target would require much broader capacity creation, repeat orders, a stronger domestic supplier ecosystem and sustained production across multiple shipyards.