The ship recycling capacity of India is expected to be doubled by 2024, with India trying to bring more ships from Europe and Japan. Following the announcement of the Indian Union Budget by the Indian Finance Minister, Mr Rohit Agarwal, Managing Partner at GUIDESHIP CONSULTING SERVICES LLP, explains what this means for the Indian ship recycling sector. The budget is good on intent, Mr Agarwal says, however the key is an efficient execution in a time-bound manner.
Indian Union Budget 2021 announcement is focused on the nation’s growth and brings a positive sentiment to the overall economy. The budget seems for all categories and industries, India’s ship recycling sector appreciate the announcements made for efforts to bring ships from Europe and Japan for recycling at Alang, double the capacity of 4.5 million light displacement tonnage by 2024 and help create some 1.5 lakh jobs for youth.
Going forward, we expect continued momentum for Indian ship recycling to attract new investments into the sector and hope that the government brings positive measures for the holistic growth of the Indian ship recycling sector.
The budget is good on intent. However, the key is an efficient execution in a time-bound manner. There are many positives to simplify things and encourage entrepreneurs but again, the key will be executed in a time-bound manner. Intent needs to be converted into implementation.
Budget presents a clear national intent towards a greener environment which is commendable and much appreciated.
In the recently proposed Union Budget 2021, the Government’s focus on entrepreneurship for start-up businesses is commendable, as that will generate more job opportunities in our country.
It is incomprehensible and surprising that the 25-year-old Basel Convention suddenly poses a challenge in terms of approving ship recycling in India. The Basel Convention prohibits the export of hazardous waste to countries outside the OECD, such as India. At the moment, a ship headed for recycling in itself counts as hazardous waste and is therefore breach of the convention – even in the event that the shipyard has been approved by the EU.
Several recycling yards in India have repeatedly tried to secure EU approval, but so far none of the yards have been successful, as they do not comply with the applicable requirements.
Danish ShipOwners Association hopes that a special agreement between the EU and India might solve the slowdown caused by the Basel Convention in terms of approving Indian recycling facilities.
EU is currently waiting for the go-ahead from its member states to enter a bilateral agreement with the Indian authorities, which could open up for European carriers to sail to India with end-of-life vessels, as soon as the facilities comply with requirements.
The views presented hereabove are only those of the author and not necessarily those of SAFETY4SEA and are for information sharing and discussion purposes only.
