Ship Recycling Ecosystem In India

Why in News?

According to the latest UNCTAD report, India ranked first globally in ship recycling in 2025. India’s share of global ship recycling increased from 30.1% in 2024 to 35.4% in 2025, making it a major global hub for sustainable ship recycling.

Key Points

India’s ship recycling volume increased from 1.86 million Gross Tonnes (GT) in 2024 to 2.99 million GT in 2025, registering nearly 60% growth in one year.

India has achieved the target under the Maritime India Vision (MIV) 2030 of becoming the world’s leading ship recycling nation five years ahead of schedule.

The Alang-Sosiya ship recycling cluster in Gujarat is the backbone of India’s ship recycling industry and is recognised as the world’s largest ship recycling hub. It accounts for approximately 98% of India’s ship recycling activity and has an annual recycling capacity of around 6 million GT.

Alang produces around 3.50 million metric tonnes (MMT) of steel annually through ship recycling, reducing the need to exploit natural resources for primary steel production.

India aims to further expand its ship recycling capacity to around 9 million Light Displacement Tonnes (LDT), nearly doubling the existing capacity.

Regulatory Framework

India has established a comprehensive legal and regulatory framework for safe and environmentally sound ship recycling, including the Ship Recycling Act, 2019, Ship Recycling Rules, 2021, and Ship Recycling Regulations, 2026.

Hong Kong International Convention

At the international level, the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships is the principal legal instrument governing ship recycling. It establishes legally binding requirements for ships and ship recycling facilities.

The Hong Kong Convention entered into force on 26 June 2025, making compliance with its requirements mandatory for the countries and entities covered by the Convention.

India has aligned its domestic ship recycling framework with the Convention through its Act, Rules and Regulations.

Inventory of Hazardous Materials

The Inventory of Hazardous Materials (IHM) is an important component of safe ship recycling. It identifies and records hazardous substances present on a ship during its operational life and before the vessel enters the recycling process.

The Ship-breaking Credit Note Scheme, introduced under the Ship Building Financial Assistance Scheme (SBFA) 2.0, aims to encourage shipowners to recycle their vessels at compliant Indian ship recycling yards.

The recycling of ex-INS Viraat at Alang, Gujarat, is one of India’s significant ship recycling projects.Ship-breaking Credit Note Scheme

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