In 2025, India became the world's largest ship recycling nation

In 2025, India became the world's largest ship recycling nation

¨     In 2025, India became the world's largest ship recycling nation.

¨     India accounted for 35.4% of global ship recycling, the highest share in the world.

¨     The country recycled 2.99 million gross tons of ships in 2025.

¨     This was an increase from 30.1% global share and 1.86 million gross tons in 2024.

¨     Ship recycling is the process of dismantling end-of-life ships to recover steel, machinery, and other reusable materials.

¨     India's ship recycling industry is concentrated at Alang, Gujarat, one of the largest ship recycling yards in the world.

¨     India achieved this milestone ahead of the Maritime India Vision 2030 target.

¨     The Recycling of Ships Act, 2019 provides the legal framework for ship recycling in India.

¨     The Act aligns with the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships.

¨     India ratified the Convention in 2019.

¨     The Convention became mandatory on 26 June 2025.

¨     It sets international standards for worker safety, hazardous waste management, and environmentally sound ship recycling.

¨     The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways provided ₹53.5 crore in financial assistance to modernise ship recycling yards.

¨     The support enabled 115 ship recycling facilities to achieve Hong Kong Convention compliance.

¨     India plans to expand its ship recycling capacity to about 9 million Light Displacement Tons (LDT).

¨     The expansion will be carried out through the development of the Alang Ship Recycling Yard.