Gautam Adani, one of the world's richest individuals, is planning to venture into shipbuilding at the Adani Group's primary port in Mundra, India's largest port.
As per India Today, this move comes as leading shipyards in countries like China, South Korea, and Japan are fully booked until at least 2028, prompting global fleet owners to look at India for building new vessels.
According to an ET report, this initiative aligns with Maritime India Vision 2030, which aims to make India a top 10 shipbuilder by 2030 and further to the top five by 2047, as per the Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision.
Currently, India ranks 20th in the global commercial shipbuilding market, holding a modest 0.05% share.
Adani's shipbuilding plan is part of a Rs 45,000 crore expansion project for Mundra Port, which recently received environmental and coastal regulation zone clearance.
Moreover, Adani Group already has the necessary land and environmental clearances, allowing a swift entry into the heavy engineering sector, marking its first venture in this field.
This move coincides with the global shipping industry's shift towards eco-friendly vessels to meet decarbonization targets.
Estimates suggest that over 50,000 ships need to be built in the next 30 years to replace existing fleets.
To achieve the targets set by the Maritime India Vision 2030 and Amrit Kaal Vision, Indian shipyards need to increase their annual output from 0.072 million gross tonnage (GT) to 0.33 million GT by 2030 and further to 11.31 million GT per year by 2047.