Like roads and railways, the government will now have to focus on shipping and shipbuilding

- Why shipbuilding does not develop like shipping despite 200 kilometers of sea, 12 large and 3 medium ports

- Three shipyards went bankrupt for Rs 20,000 crore due to lack of orders, huge expenses and long running business cycle!

The shipbuilding business is currently under discussion. Rishi Agarwal, the promoter of ABG Shipyard, has been charged by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the country's biggest bank scam. ABG's business did not thrive even after the company stopped repaying loans and the banks helped with the new package. The company is facing bankruptcy proceedings, no one is willing to bid to buy the property, so what is left is being auctioned off. Following the release of so many horses, a case has now been registered on the basis of an 18-month-old complaint lodged by the State Bank of India. Anil Ambani bought a company called Pipavav Ship Building and now a company called Reliance Naval Defense is also facing bankruptcy proceedings. Earlier, the three-decade-old Bharti Shipyard was also sent under bankruptcy.

The three companies found that the banks have to recover a total of Rs 30,000 crore. Every bank is worried about whether the money will come back or not.

Shipbuilding is a complex subject and India is dominated by government companies rather than private companies. Government companies make more than the number of ships built in the country. Even so, owning one is still beyond the reach of the average person.

In the year 2016-17, government and private companies in India had orders to build a total of 12 ships, out of which 111 ships were to be built by government companies and the remaining 8 by private companies. This shows that government companies have more skills, orders and capabilities. Second, there are three government companies that operate exclusively for the country's navy, coast guard, and defense.

Second, the world is witnessing drastic changes in the field of shipbuilding. Companies are closing in Europe. The activity has stalled or declined due to damage to the environment caused by shipbuilding but is growing in Asia. In 2015, China, South Korea, and Japan accounted for 80 percent of all shipbuilding in the world! India has 216 km of coastline, a dozen large and about 30 medium-sized ports. These ports serve as a hub of world trade as well as a major part of India's internal freight transport, so there is an opportunity for shipbuilding in India as well, but so far there has been no success in the private sector. Why so

First of all, shipbuilding is a fairly complex process. In addition to steel, electronics, mechanical, civil and ocean engineering, it requires skilled workers and a vast coastline. The design, construction and sale of a ship is a long process and the buyer has as much responsibility as the manufacturer. India accounts for only 0.04 per cent of total shipbuilding in the world, compared to China, South Korea and Japan. Not only that, only 10% of the ships owned by Indian shipping companies will be made in India.

The above figures show that Indian consumers themselves are not interested in buying Indian made ships. This situation can also be due to high cost, late delivery and poor quality of local producers.

It is not that India has not started. The first shipbuilding company in the country was started in 191 under the name of Scindia Shipyard. In the sixties, there were eight shipyards in the country, but now only eight are left, including eight government and 20 private shipbuilders. On the other hand, 70% of the total government orders are warships or patrol boats, so they are built by government companies. Government orders are not received so private companies do not have work. The experience of government companies is increasing so now private shipping companies also build ships with government companies.

Shipping means freight, port management, cargo handling and other services, and shipbuilding means shipbuilding, the necessary navigation, ocean engineering, steel, aluminum, electronics, electrical, radar technology, communications, including its products, And other facilities. Now is the time to discriminate between the two. It's time to dump her and move on. In contrast to the central government's investment in roads, railways and road construction in the country, a negligible portion is being spent on shipping and shipbuilding. This has made shipbuilding an assembly activity in the country. Parts of the entire ship are assembled, fitted as needed, and the ship is built. Numerous items have to be imported and that is why it is expensive to build a ship in India. Events like ABG, Reliance Naval and Bharti Shipyard will continue to happen if the government, private investors and elsewhere do not consider this situation soon and do not change the strategy.