Two government-backed insurance policies will protect Indian shipyards from delayed milestone payments and disruptions on export and domestic projects.
India has unveiled two specialised credit insurance products designed to shore up its shipbuilding sector, as the government seeks to reduce the financial strain on yards handling large, long-dated projects. The announcement came at the closing session of the 21st Maritime State Development Council meeting, where Ports, Shipping and Waterways Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said the measures were part of the National Shipbuilding Mission.
According to The Hindu BusinessLine, the Shipbuilding Project Credit Risk Insurance Policy, or SbPCP, has been developed by ECGC Ltd to cover export-linked projects, while the Business Credit Shield Policy Shipbuilders, or BCSPS, from The New India Assurance Co Ltd will apply to domestic work. The federal government will subsidise premiums and step in with direct support to insurers if shipyards submit claims, the minister said. The policies have been framed under the Shipbuilding Development Scheme and are intended to give builders protection against delayed milestone payments and project disruptions.
Sonowal said the aim was to create a stronger safety net for an industry that often depends on long project cycles and tightly timed cash flows. “Building a ship is a massive, multi-year journey, a single missed milestone payment could stall an entire shipyard’s operations. With these new insurance policies, we are stepping in to give them a real safety net. We want our shipyards to focus on what they do best, building world-class vessels, without the fear of delayed payments or sudden global market shifts holding them back,” he said. The statement underscores how payment delays can ripple through shipyards, suppliers and lenders, especially when projects are capital-intensive and exposed to changes in global demand.
The meeting also marked the first time the Maritime State Development Council gathered after being given statutory status under the Indian Ports Act, 2025, which was notified on May 15. The council, first formed in 1997, now has a broader role in shaping maritime policy, planning infrastructure and encouraging more coordinated growth across ports and shipping. According to the ministry, members backed the National Perspective Plan and pressed states to accelerate multimodal links through roads, railways, inland waterways, pipelines and conveyors. They also agreed that state governments, working with the shipping ministry, should push port-linked industrial clusters with land, ready-to-use infrastructure and faster approvals.
Sonowal also launched a Ready Reckoner for implementing the One Nation One Port process reform framework for major and non-major ports. The guide brings together references to central circulars issued by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, and sets out what states and Union Territories are expected to do to speed up implementation. The minister said the council had entered a new statutory phase, and argued that the adoption of the MIV 2030 and MAKV 2047 targets would leave India’s ports and shipping network better placed to compete internationally and support port-led industrial growth.
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