Panel calls for urgent attention on geopolitics-borne shipping challenges

NEW DELHI : Amid constant maritime threats arising out of geopolitical developments and a recent container crisis, the parliamentary standing committee on transport, tourism and culture on Tuesday called for immediate attention to the disruption in container logistics and asked the shipping ministry to work on a solution. 

“The Committee strongly urges the Ministry to implement comprehensive digital tracking platforms for real-time monitoring of container movements across all major ports. Furthermore, the Committee recommends establishing a dedicated Maritime Response Unit to address contingencies arising from geopolitical disruptions along key shipping routes. The Committee believes these measures are essential to mitigate extended lead times currently affecting Asia–Europe shipments and to reduce congestion at strategic port hubs,” it said. 

In 2024, the commerce ministry had to convene a last-resort meeting of shipping stakeholders and announce a slew of relief measures as container availability became a major cause of concern for export-import (Exim) traders. The shipping ministry has also been working in parallel on a plan to ensure the availability of containers and domestic vessels to service India’s shipping needs. 

The global container and vessel market is dominated chiefly by China. 

The committee also said that to achieve the government’s goals under programmes like the Maritime India Vision, port infrastructure augmentation is a must. The government has a target to increase port capacity to 10,000 million tonnes per annum by 2047.

With India’s biggest state-owned shipper, Shipping Corporation of India, bound for disinvestment but with no concrete movement over the past few years, the panel asked the ministry for clarity on the government’s strategy for the company. 

“The Committee notes with concern the absence of any direct budgetary allocation for the Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) and urges the government to clarify the strategic vision for SCI, particularly in the context of its long-term viability and competitive positioning. In the view of the Committee, it is imperative that a well-formulated structured transition plan be put in place to ensure minimal disruption to India’s commercial shipping capabilities,” the panel said. 

For the government’s flagship Sagarmala programme, the panel recommended a comprehensive impact assessment of Sagarmala projects be conducted to ensure that investments are directly correlated with economic growth, employment generation, and infrastructural improvements. 

“Future funding for the Sagarmala programme should be tied to performance-based outcomes, with a clear roadmap for project execution timelines and transparent reporting mechanisms,” it said. This is pertinent as the government will soon roll out a Rs 40,000 crore Sagarmala 2.0, with special focus on shipbuilding, repair, and recycling. 

While the parliamentary panel made several recommendations on the current shipbuilding financial assistance policy of the government, officials said that most of them have been co-opted within the upcoming second edition of the financial assistance policy. 

The panel has sought more focus on green shipbuilding. 

“Beyond simply allocating a portion of existing funds to green vessel construction, the Ministry should establish a dedicated Green Shipbuilding Innovation Fund within the SBFAP framework. This fund would finance not only vessel construction but also research and development activities focused on adapting international green shipping technologies to Indian conditions. The proposed SBFAP 2.0, with its enhanced subsidies for green vessels, creates an opportunity to institutionalise this approach,” it said. 

According to the Committee, the fund should support collaborative projects between shipyards, research institutions, and technology providers to develop standardised designs for green vessels suited to Indian operational contexts. This would create a pipeline of technically validated vessel designs that Indian shipyards could offer to domestic and international clients at competitive prices.