India Unveils Shipbuilding Ambitions as Part of Atmanirbhar Bharat

In November 2025, Indian PM Narendra Modi unveiled India’s shipbuilding ambitions as part of Atmanirbhar Bharat which aims to render India self-reliant. Currently, India spends USD 75 billion annually to buy ships from overseas. If the ships can be manufactured locally, it would certainly give a boost to the local economy and create many jobs.

India also wants to upgrade its capabilities to produce military assets from aircraft carriers and submarines as the rivalry to control the Indian Ocean intensifies. At the beginning of November 2025, Chinese President Xi Jinping officially commissioned into service its third aircraft carrier, equipped with the latest electromagnetic catapult. Thus, India cannot afford to be left behind and must keep up with its neighbor.

In addition to a substantial domestic demand for both civil and military ships, India already possesses a huge steel industry and a plentiful source of labor that are the two primary prerequisites for a competitive shipbuilding ecosystem.

Currently, only a handful of countries are in the shipbuilding business: China (50%), South Korea (30%) and Japan (15%). Therefore, India might probably turn to South Korea or Japan as partners to ignite its shipbuilding dreams. At the same time, the US is also indigenizing its shipbuilding industry and Trump has slapped extra fees on ships which are made in China or bear a Chinese flag.

India plans to capture at least 5% of the global shipbuilding market share by 2030. Then, come 2047, marking the 100th anniversary of the independence of India, India ambitions to be one of the Top 5 shipbuilding nations in the world.