Ship Recycling in India:
India became the world’s leading ship recycling nation in 2025, with its global market share rising to 35.4% and recycling volume increasing by nearly 60% to 2.99 million gross tons.
- This rise has been supported by regulatory reforms, Hong Kong Convention compliance, yard modernisation, and stronger safety and environmental standards.
- According to UNCTAD, India ranked first globally in ship recycling in 2025, with its share rising from 30.1% in 2024 to 35.4% in 2025.
- India’s ship recycling volume rose from 1.86 million GT in 2024 to 2.99 million GT in 2025, marking nearly 60% growth and reflecting expanding capacity and global competitiveness.
- India achieved the Maritime India Vision 2030 objective of becoming the world’s leading ship-recycling nation five years ahead of schedule.
- India aims to nearly double its ship recycling capacity to about 9 million light displacement tons (LDT) through the planned expansion of the Alang Ship Recycling Yard, supported by a comprehensive master plan.
- The Alang-Sosiya ship recycling cluster in Gujarat is the backbone of India’s ship recycling industry, accounting for about 98% of national recycling activity and having an annual capacity of around 6 million GT.
- Alang produces around 3.50 million metric tonnes (MMT) of steel annually through recycling, reducing the need for fresh extraction of natural resources and supporting the circular economy.
- The Alang-Sosiya cluster is supported by authorised recycling yards, downstream steel re-rolling mills, waste-management facilities and other allied infrastructure, strengthening India’s global competitiveness.
- The Safety Training and Labour Welfare Institute at Alang-Sosiya has cumulatively trained over 1.5 lakh workers in occupational safety, hazardous-material handling and emergency response.
