According to industry sources, "In earlier days, the industry was predominated by government shipyards. However, given the growth opportunities today, the private sector has started to expand their operations." This is also evident from the share of private players in the overall indian shipbuilding order book, which currently stands at 73%.
The order books of the shipyards would reveal that private shipyards are mostly banking on export orders out of their total orders share of $2,686 million, export orders account for almost $2,284 million. In the case of PSU shipyards, it is the other way around, with domestic orders accounting for $517 million out of their total share of $1,011 million.
"The shipbuilding industry is a totally labour intensive industry and there is dearth of skilled labour in India," said a Mumbai based shipping analyst. The global order book has registered a 29% CAGR over the period 2003-06. Going forward, a similar trend is expected on the back of a growth in demand for vessels, which is seen as a result of replacement demand and capex boom in the offshore segment.
Earlier, Indian shipyards were focused on the construction of only small vessels. After the proposed expansions, shipyards will be able to build large vessels.