RBB Ship Chartering kicks off Commercial operations from GIFT City IFSC

GANDHINAGAR : In a landmark step towards boosting ship leasing & chartering services in India, RSCPL (IFSC) Private Ltd, a 100 per cent subsidiary of RBB Ship Chartering Pte Ltd, Singapore, has been issued final Certification of Authorization to operate from International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) at Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) Multi SEZ, Gandhinagar.

RSCPL (IFSC) Pvt Ltd has received the maiden license for ship leasing and chartering business in March 2023 and has also successfully commenced commercial operations at GIFT City.

The maritime industry is a strategically important sector for India given the country’s vast coastline with massive global and domestic trade via sea routes. There is also a huge opportunity for India in promoting the shipping industry by incentivizing domestic and international shipping companies (particularly those offering ship leasing / financial services) to set up their base in India. To tap into this enormous growth potential, a regulatory framework to enable the ship leasing business to be set up in India’s First IFSC at GIFT City has already been put in place. The framework allows the ship leasing entities to offer operating lease, financial & hybrid lease, voyage chartering and Contract of Affreightment (COA) from the GIFT IFSC.

Mr Raajesh Bhojwani, CEO & MD, RBB Ship Chartering Pte Ltd, Singapore, said: “We are happy to have received the first ship leasing license at GIFT IFSC. We appreciate the efforts of officials of the Government of India, GIFT City, SEZ and IFSCA in this major milestone. The entire team of RBB Ship Chartering Pte Ltd, Singapore, is proud to be the 1st company to commence the ship leasing business at GIFT City, Gandhinagar, India. We have kicked off Gift City unit business with the fixture of 5,00,000 Metric Tons COA of Bagged rice shipment for our prestigious client M/s VI Exports Inc (who is leading rice exporters, star trading house & owners of Shree Lal Mahal Rice brand), from India to various African & South Asian ports. The current cargo value deal amounts to ~ USD 250 million. We are in advance stages of signing similar deals with reputed Sugar & Salt exporters as well as Fertilizer & Coal importers.

We are currently a profitable bootstrapped company, and our vision is to be a globally listed entity with revenue of over USD 7 Billion by 2027.”

Commenting on the development, Dr Prem Garg, Chairman, VI Exports India Pvt Ltd said, “We congratulates RBB Ship Chartering team for successfully starting the commercial operations at India’s first IFSC at GIFT City, Gandhinagar. With host of financial incentives provided at GIFT IFSC, we have received sustainable break- bulk freights for exports of our rice cargo for the FY 2023-24 from RBB Ship Chartering.”

Mr Dev Garg, Managing Director, VI Exports, New Delhi said, “We are happy to be associated with RBB Ship Chartering. We are confident that RBB team will replicate the Singapore success story at Gift city too.” Mr Aditya Garg, Executive Director, VI Exports India Pvt Ltd said “In a short span of time, RBB Ship Chartering have done a remarkable business in one of the toughest sea transportation segment viz. bagged rice exports shipment from India to African ports. We wish them a successful & bon voyage journey for this new venture at GIFT City.”