New Delhi, Aug 2026 : India emerged as the world’s largest ship recycling nation in 2025, increasing its share of the global ship recycling market to 35.4 per cent from 30.1 per cent in 2024, according to an official factsheet.
The development marks a significant milestone for India’s maritime and industrial sectors and highlights the country’s growing capacity in ship recycling and steel recovery.
India’s ship recycling volume rose sharply from 1.86 million Gross Tonnes (GT) in 2024 to 2.99 million GT in 2025, representing an increase of nearly 60 per cent in a single year.
The Alang-Sosiya ship recycling cluster in Gujarat continues to form the backbone of India’s ship recycling industry. Recognised as the world’s largest ship recycling hub, the cluster accounts for approximately 98 per cent of the country’s total ship recycling activity.
With an annual recycling capacity of around six million GT, Alang has emerged as a critical centre for dismantling ships and recovering valuable materials. The recycling ecosystem also supports a substantial downstream steel industry.
“Around 3.50 million metric tonnes (MMT) of steel is produced per annum at Alang without exploiting natural resources,” the factsheet said. The cluster is supported by authorised ship recycling yards, steel re-rolling mills and waste management infrastructure.
Over the years, Alang-Sosiya has undergone extensive modernisation to improve its operational capabilities and strengthen its compliance with evolving safety and environmental standards. The cluster now serves as India’s principal interface with the international ship recycling market.
The government is also targeting a further expansion of the sector. India aims to nearly double its ship recycling capacity to around nine million Light Displacement Tonnes (LDT), with the planned development of the Alang Ship Recycling Yard expected to contribute significantly to this objective.
Worker safety and training have also been an important component of the industry’s development. The Safety Training and Labour Welfare Institute at the Alang-Sosiya ship recycling yard has cumulatively trained more than 1.5 lakh workers.
The training programmes cover areas including occupational safety, handling of hazardous materials and emergency response, helping workers deal with the risks associated with ship dismantling and recycling activities.
Besides the Alang-Sosiya cluster, India has ship recycling facilities at Amar Iron Udyog in Kolkata and Steel Industrials Kerala Limited (SILK) in Kerala, further expanding the geographical footprint of the country’s recycling industry.
The government said the sharp increase in India’s share of global ship recycling reflected the growing capacity and competitiveness of domestic ship recycling yards.
“The rise reflects India’s expanding capacity and indicates the growing competitiveness of Indian ship recycling yards in the global market,” the statement said.
The achievement also means that India has reached an important target under the Maritime India Vision (MIV) 2030 ahead of schedule.
According to the government, the objective of becoming the world’s leading ship recycling nation, originally set under MIV 2030, has now been achieved five years ahead of the targeted timeline.
The expansion of ship recycling is expected to contribute to steel production, employment generation, resource conservation and the development of supporting industries while reducing the need to rely on virgin raw materials.
With further investment planned in infrastructure and capacity, India is seeking to consolidate its leadership in the global ship recycling sector and strengthen its position as a competitive and sustainable maritime industry hub.
