In July 2025, the Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways (MoPSW) has hosted the Maritime Financing Summit 2025 in New Delhi, Delhi. The event brought together senior policymakers, industry leaders, global investors, and domain experts to deliberate on transformative financial solutions for India’s maritime future.
- The summit was in alignment with the Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision (MAKV 2047), which aims to position India among the world’s leading maritime hubs by bolstering shipbuilding, port infrastructure and financial resilience.
Highlights of Maritime Financing Summit 2025:
Key Note Address: Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, MoPSW delivered a keynote address at the summit, where he highlighted that India’s Ports have significantly improved operational efficiency, with average turnaround time reduced from 4 days to less than 1 day, outperforming many advanced countries.
- The container handling capacity at major India Ports has increased by over 70%, and cargo volumes through coastal and inland waterways have multiplied.
- The Government of India (GoI) has enabled 100% Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the shipping sector under the Automatic Route (AR), allowing easier and faster investment without prior approval.
- The Parliament has passed the Bills of Lading Bill, 2025, to streamline and modernize the legal framework governing shipping documents.
Key Participants: The summit brought together around 250 stakeholders, including banks, shipyards, and shipping companies.
- Embassy representatives from countries like Japan, Germany, and Singapore also took part.
- State maritime boards and top Indian shipbuilders such as Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL), Damen, Chowgule &Co. and Swan were present at the event.
Key Areas of Discussions:Â The summit discussed key policy measures such as recognizing large vessels as infrastructure and extending the Shipbuilding Financial Assistance Scheme (SBFAS) for long-term support.
- Plans for greenfield and brownfield shipyard expansions were also highlighted through Centre-State coordination.
- Discussions focused on ship leasing regulations, sustainable shipbuilding, port digitization, and innovative financing models.
Announcements/Launch of Key Initiatives:
Announcements of Maritime Development Fund (MDF): It is a dedicated blended finance vehicle aimed at lowering capital costs and attracting long-term investment into shipyards, coastal infrastructure, and inland waterways.
- This newly announced fund has been developed through wide-ranging consultations with more than 100 stakeholders, including global investors, shipowners, insurance companies, and financial institutions.
- The Union Budget 2025-26 has proposed the creation of a MDF with an initial corpus of Rs.25,000 crore, with the government contributing 49%, and the rest coming from major port authorities, other government bodies, central public sector enterprises (CPSEs), financial institutions, and private players.
- The MDF aims to facilitate ship acquisition and increase the share of Indian-flagged ships in global cargo movement to 20% by 2047.
Launch of Financial Digital Maturity Matrix (FDMM): It is a comprehensive framework to evaluate and enhance digital financial capabilities at major ports, which will help in enabling investor-ready, high-performance infrastructure.
Recent Related News:
In May 2025, Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), under the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW), has established its new office, located at Transport Bhawan in Srinagar, Union Territory (UT) Jammu & Kashmir (J&K). This move is expected to bolster the Inland Water Transport (IWT) sector in J&K.
