Bhavnagar: Citing India’s shipping sector as a major example of the damage caused by flawed policies of former Congress governments, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday highlighted that the country spends USD 75 billion annually on leasing foreign vessels—an amount nearly equal to India’s defence budget.

“India’s shipping sector stands as a stark example of losses caused by the policies of the Congress party. Historically, India was a global maritime power and one of the world’s largest shipbuilding centres. Vessels constructed along our coasts were integral to global commerce and trade. Just fifty years ago, about 40% of India’s imports and exports were carried on domestically built ships. However, successive Congress-led governments neglected shipbuilding, favouring the leasing of foreign vessels instead. This led to the collapse of the domestic shipbuilding ecosystem, forcing India to rely on foreign vessels. Today, only 5% of our trade is carried out using Indian-built ships, meaning we depend on foreign vessels for 95% of our shipping requirements, resulting in enormous financial losses,” PM Modi said during his address in Bhavnagar, Gujarat.

Watch | “…Instead of focusing on shipbuilding in India, Congress preferred to hire foreign ships… This weakened India’s shipbuilding ecosystem. Over time, for 95% of our trade, we became dependent on foreign-built ships, which caused us significant losses…Citizens will be… pic.twitter.com/WewUT9RSQj

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He added, “Every year, India spends USD 75 billion (around ₹6 lakh crore) leasing foreign vessels—almost equal to the defence budget. Imagine the jobs and revenue generated abroad with this money. If even a fraction of it had been invested in our domestic shipbuilding industry, Indian vessels would have been used worldwide, earning crores for the country. Whether it is a semiconductor chip or a ship, it should be manufactured in India.”

He pointed out that this outflow of funds has created millions of jobs abroad. Modi emphasized that if even a small portion of this expenditure had been invested by earlier governments in India’s shipping industry, the world today would be using Indian ships, and India would be earning lakhs of crores in shipping services.

During his visit to Bhavnagar, PM Modi inaugurated and laid the foundation stone for multiple development projects related to the maritime sector worth over ₹34,200 crore. He inaugurated the Mumbai International Cruise Terminal at Indira Dock. He also laid the foundation stone of a new container terminal and associated facilities at Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port, Kolkata; a new container berth, cargo handling facilities, and associated developments at Paradip Port; the Tuna Tekra Multi-Cargo Terminal; firefighting facilities and modern road connectivity at Kamarajar Port, Ennore; coastal protection works including sea-walls and revetments at Chennai Port; sea-wall construction at Car Nicobar Island; a multi-purpose cargo berth and Green Bio-Methanol Plant at Deendayal Port, Kandla; and ship repair facilities at Patna and Varanasi. DeshGujarat