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India became the world's leading ship recycling nation in 2025, according to UNCTAD.
India's global market share rose from 30.1% in 2024 to 35.4% in 2025.
Recycling volume grew from 1.86 million gross tonnes to 2.99 million gross tonnes, close to 60% growth.
The Maritime India Vision 2030 target of becoming the world's leading ship recycling nation was achieved five years ahead of schedule.
The Alang-Sosiya cluster in Gujarat accounts for about 98% of India's ship recycling activity.
A ship at the end of its service life is a very large, very concentrated deposit of steel — and also a container of hazardous material accumulated over decades: asbestos, oils, heavy metals and residues. Recycling it well does two things at once. It recovers ferrous scrap that feeds domestic steel production, and recycled steel takes substantially less energy to produce than steel made from ore, so it lowers emissions as well as import dependence. Recycling it badly means the same hazardous material ends up in coastal water and in workers' lungs. That is why the regulatory framework, not the dismantling itself, is what separates a modern ship recycling industry from a beach-breaking operation.
Simple Analogy: The same scrapyard can be a resource or a poison, and the only difference is the rulebook it works under.
The primary domestic law; gives effect to international standards and designates the Directorate General of Shipping as the National Authority, with powers of authorisation, certification, inspection and enforcement
Operationalise the Act — facility authorisation, ship recycling plans, hazardous material management, worker safety, training and reporting
Add detailed operational, safety and environmental standards for uniform compliance and monitoring
The principal international instrument; came into force on 26 June 2025, from which date compliance became mandatory
The broader international treaty controlling transboundary movement of hazardous wastes and their disposal, which historically governed end-of-life vessels before a dedicated ship recycling convention existed
Ship recycling data uses two units that sound similar and measure entirely different things. Gross Tonnage (GT) is a measure of a ship's total enclosed internal volume, not its weight — it is used to compare ship size and to set regulatory thresholds. Light Displacement Tonnage (LDT) is the actual weight of the vessel's structure without cargo, fuel, stores or crew, and it is what a recycling yard cares about because it approximates the quantity of steel that can be recovered. Ship recycling volumes are reported in GT, while yard capacity expansion targets are stated in LDT — which is exactly why the two appear side by side in this release.
Simple Analogy: One number tells you how big the box is; the other tells you how much metal you get when you melt it down.
Identify and record hazardous substances aboard a ship across its operational life and before recycling
Key: India follows a lifecycle-based compliance approach, ensuring traceability and risk mitigation before a ship enters an authorised yard
Encourage shipowners to recycle vessels at compliant Indian yards and to build new vessels in India
Key: Introduced under the Shipbuilding Financial Assistance Scheme (SBFA) 2.0; issues a Credit Note worth 40% of the recycled ship's scrap value, usable towards up to 5% of the value of a new vessel built at an Indian shipyard
Train recycling workers in occupational safety and hazardous material handling
Key: Has cumulatively trained over 1.5 lakh workers in safety, hazardous material handling and emergency response
Roadmap for the Indian maritime sector to 2030
Key: Set the target of India becoming the world's leading ship recycling nation — achieved five years ahead of schedule
GS Paper 3 > Indian Economy > Industry; Environment > Circular Economy
General Awareness > Economy and Current Affairs
General Awareness > Economy
Ship recycling has become a recurring GS Paper 3 item since the Hong Kong Convention entered into force, and Alang is a standard SSC location question.
A measure of a ship's total enclosed internal volume, not its weight
The weight of a vessel's structure without cargo, fuel or stores — the practical measure of recoverable steel
A record of hazardous substances aboard a ship, maintained across its life and required before recycling
The international convention for safe and environmentally sound ship recycling; in force from 26 June 2025
The treaty controlling transboundary movement of hazardous wastes and their disposal