New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Sunday proposed a container manufacturing scheme, with a budgetary allocation of Rs 10,000 crore over five years, to create a globally competitive container building ecosystem.
To promote environmentally sustainable movement of cargo, Sitharaman said a scheme for the enhancement of construction and infrastructure equipment (CIE) will be introduced to strengthen domestic manufacturing of high-value and technologically advanced CIE.
The finance minister in her Budget speech proposed establishing a new Dedicated Freight Corridor connecting Dankuni in the East to Surat in the West.
She also said that the government will operationalise 20 new National Waterways (NW) over the next five years, starting with NW-5 in Odisha to connect mineral-rich areas of Talcher and Angul and industrial centres like Kalinga Nagar to the ports of Paradeep and Dhamra.
Sitharaman said a ship-repair ecosystem for inland waterways will also be set up in Varanasi and Patna.
The minister also proposed to launch a Coastal Cargo Promotion Scheme for incentivising a modal shift from rail and road to increase the share of inland waterways and coastal shipping from 6 per cent to 12 per cent by 2047.
She said training institutes will be set up as Regional Centres of Excellence for the development of the required manpower, adding that this will benefit youth in the entire stretch of the waterways to train and acquire skills.
To enhance last-mile and remote connectivity, and promote tourism, the minister proposes to give incentives to indigenise the manufacturing of seaplanes.
“A Seaplane VGF Scheme will also be introduced to provide support for operations,” she said.
The government aims to promote the manufacturing of Containers in the country, with an aim to support the high growth rate of the containerised cargo, which constitutes around two-thirds of the value of international trade.
According to an official statement, the proposed Container Manufacturing Assistance Scheme is envisaged to target an annual domestic manufacturing capacity of 1 million TEUs over the next 10 years.
“Total market value generation of Rs 80,000 crore, indicating a leverage of 8 times over the total support of Rs 10,000 crore envisaged to be provided,” it said.
The proposed scheme is expected to create 3,000 direct jobs and 50,000 indirect jobs.
The statement said MSC, Maersk/Artsons (TATA), Adani, JM Baxi are interested in participating in this scheme.
By supporting the setting up of greenfield projects, the statement said the scheme strives to create a globally competitive container-manufacturing ecosystem and enhance the supply chain resilience of the country.
The scheme will reduce dependence on imported containers and will strengthen India’s logistics and shipping supply chain.
The statement also said the development of NW-5 in Odisha will cost Rs 13,000 crore.
It also said that the launch of a Coastal Cargo Promotion Scheme will incentivise modal shift from rail and road to waterways.
With an aim to encourage Indian ship ownership and flagging, Sitharaman also extended the tax deduction period for units in IFSC and Offshore Banking Units (OBUs) from 10 to 20 consecutive years within a 25-year span.
“After this deduction period, business income of these units will be taxed at 15 per cent,” the Budget document said.
This will enable a greater number of ship owners to own and flag their vessels via GIFT IFSCA.
According to the Budget document, the sunset clause for Customs Duty Exemption on Import of small vessels has been extended by two years till March 2028, while the sunset clause for Customs Duty Exemption on Import of Large vessels has been removed.
“This will enable Indian Shipowners to augment their fleet (Promote Tonnage),” the shipping ministry said in a statement.
