Shipbreaking capacity at Alang yards of Gujarat, India, will be doubled to 4.5mn ldt by 2024, announced India’s finance minister Niramala Sitharaman during the budget session on Monday.
Three countries in Indian subcontinent -India, Pakistan and Bangladesh share over 90pc for the ship recycling operations. Among these, India houses most of the Hong Kong Convention (HKC) compliant yards. Concentrated in Alang, there are over 197 yards across 9km on India’s western coast. Of these, around 130 have leased yards from the Gujarat Maritime Board.
Each yard generates around 100mt of ferrous scrap daily, according to Davis Index sources. Thus, doubling ship recycling capacity could also help in increasing the generation of scrap in the country. Besides, India’s vehicle scrappage policy could also aid in generating scrap and lower dependence on imports.