India’s maritime sector has witnessed significant progress over the past year, supported by a series of measures aimed at expanding port capacity, strengthening port governance and enhancing operational efficiency. These initiatives are expected to improve cargo handling capabilities, streamline port operations, and strengthen the efficiency and resilience of the country’s supply chain. A look at the key developments in the ports and shipping sector over the past year…
Public capital and regulatory measures
Under Union Budget 2026-27, the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways has been allocated Rs 51.65 billion (budget estimate). This is 48.8 per cent higher than the budget estimate of Rs 34.71 billion and 78.16 per cent higher than the revised estimate of Rs 28.99 billion for 2025-26. To promote environmentally sustainable movement of cargo, 20 new national waterways (NWs) will be operationalised over the next five years. Additionally, a coastal cargo promotion scheme will be launched to incentivise a modal shift from rail and road, aiming to double the share of inland waterways and coastal shipping from 6 per cent to 12 per cent by 2047.
In July 2026, the union cabinet approved a revised policy for awarding waterfront and associated land to port-dependent industries (captive policy) at major ports. The updated framework allows existing captive operators to extend concession agreements for up to 30 years without fresh bidding, subject to specified conditions.
Under the Shipbuilding Financial Assistance Policy, the Government of India has granted in-principle approval for 288 shipbuilding contracts worth Rs 197.48 billion, covering construction of 456 vessels. As of March 14, 2026, the government had disbursed Rs 6.21 billion in financial assistance to 23 shipyards for building and delivering 204 vessels under the scheme.
The central government has set an asset monetisation target of Rs 2,637 billion for ports under the National Monetisation Pipeline 2.0 for the period 2025-26 to 2029-30. This is 15.77 per cent of the total monetisation value of Rs 16,723 billion allocated across 12 sectors.
In May 2026, the Department of Financial Services, under the Ministry of Finance, launched the Bharat Maritime Insurance Pool with $1.5 billion, backed by a sovereign guarantee of $1.4 billion (Rs 129.8 billion).
Capacity expansion and development
Under the Sagarmala programme, 315 projects (worth Rs 1.57 trillion) had been completed, while 210 were under implementation and another 320 were in the planning phase as of March 2026.
Several new projects were inaugurated during the past year. Notable among them were season 1 of breakwater construction under the Vizhinjam International Container Transhipment Terminal Project Phase II, the Capital Dredging Project Phase VI at Kamarajar port, the Coastal Berth Rock Dredging Project at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority, the Bharat Mumbai Container Terminal Phase II project, Goa’s new Captain of Ports terminal building, the Pandu port-NH-27 Connectivity Project and the Akkulam-Chettuva Waterway Project Phase I.
In addition, several projects were inaugurated and foundation stones laid across major ports, including four projects worth Rs 2.3 billion at Visakhapatnam port, four projects valued at Rs 542.7 million at Chennai port and multiple projects involving a total investment of Rs 1.93 billion at Deendayal port.
Shipping landscape
In 2025, India emerged as the world’s largest ship-recycling country, achieving a key target of the Maritime India Vision 2030 five years ahead of schedule. According to United Nations Conference on Trade and Development data, the country’s ship recycling volumes rose sharply to 2.99 million gross tonnage (GT) in 2025 from 1.86 million GT in 2024, increasing India’s global market share from 30.1 per cent to 35.4 per cent.
In May 2026, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the development of a state-of-the-art ship repair facility at Vadinar, Gujarat. With an investment of Rs 15.7 billion, the project will be jointly implemented by the Deendayal Port Authority and Cochin Shipyard Limited as a brownfield project.
In August 2026, E-Samudra, a comprehensive digital platform, was launched to modernise maritime governance.
Strengthening the inland waterways network
In October 2025, the government released draft rules to enable the operation of autonomous vessels on inland waterways. Under the proposed framework, fully autonomous vessels would operate without onboard crews, while semi-autonomous ones would carry a minimal crew based on risk assessments, factoring in the automation level, route, type of operation (cargo/passenger) and voyage duration. In November 2025, the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) handed over the Kalughat intermodal terminal in Bihar to a private partner and commenced cargo operations at the Haldia multimodal terminal in West Bengal.
During the India Maritime Week 2025, the IWAI signed MoUs worth over Rs 60 billion for the development and expansion of inland waterways along the Ganga river on NW-1 in Uttar Pradesh. In addition, in November 2025, the authority signed multiple MoUs worth around Rs 30 billion to strengthen inland waterway infrastructure and industrial connectivity in the north-eastern region.
