Centre initiatives for ship repair industry

Government has taken steps to promote ship repair industry in India which include:

• Service tax exemption granted by the Central Government for repair of foreign going vessels by Indian shipyards to reduce operational costs of ship repair units.
• Government has dispensed with the requirement for registration of ship repair units with Director General (Shipping) in December, 2014 to promote ´Ease of Doing Business´.

Some problems affecting the ship repair industry in India include:

• Lack of cheap and long-term financing for ship repair industry as it does not enjoy infrastructure status.

• Higher ship repair costs especially for repair of domestic vessels due to prevailing tax regime.
• Complex customs bonding processes leading to time delays and increase in cost overruns.