India’s Dependence on Foreign Ships for Trade Seen as Strategic Vulnerability: PM Aide
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India pays $70–$75 billion to foreign shipping carriers annually to provide the country with their shipping services for its imports and exports.
India's heavy dependence on foreign shipping companies for the shipment of its exports and imports is one of the nation's biggest strategic weaknesses, Sanjeev Sanyal, Member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, said on Wednesday.
"I have argued many times before that ships and this maritime capability is one of our biggest strategic weaknesses," Sanyal stated in an interview with news agency ANI.
"Until we own our own ships, build our own ships, it's not enough to only have a navy," he added.
"Until we own our own ships, build our own ships, it's not enough to only have a navy," he added.
Previously, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for self-reliance in the maritime sector.
"If India is to become a developed nation by 2047, it must become self-reliant, there is no alternative to self-reliance and that all 140 crore (1.4 billion) citizens must commit to the same resolve—whether it is chips or ships, they must be made in India," the Indian leader said during a public event in Gujarat's Bhavnagar in September last year.
Modi highlighted that, unlike in the past, when the share of India-made ships in its trade was 40%, today it has plunged to 5%, with 95% of India's trade relying on foreign ships.
The Government of India has launched multiple schemes totalling INR 77,000 crore ($8.4 billion) to revive the shipbuilding industry.
Nearly $3 billion Maritime Development Fund (MDF), announced in last year's federal budget, funds the acquisitions of large vessels through direct financing.
These government-backed schemes aim to raise the share of Indian-built ships in global trade to 20% in the next two decades.
The Government of India has launched multiple schemes totalling INR 77,000 crore ($8.4 billion) to revive the shipbuilding industry.
Nearly $3 billion Maritime Development Fund (MDF), announced in last year's federal budget, funds the acquisitions of large vessels through direct financing.
These government-backed schemes aim to raise the share of Indian-built ships in global trade to 20% in the next two decades.
26 November 2025, 13:31
