Tamil Nadu to come up with a comprehensive Maritime and Shipbuilding Policy in sync with Centre: T.R.B. Rajaa

A comprehensive Maritime and Shipbuilding Policy is being formalised – one that will incentivise new shipyards, attract global players, and enable equity partnerships between the State and private industry, Industries Minister T.R.B. Rajaa said on Wednesday.

Addressing the media on the sidelines of the India Maritime Week 2025 in Mumbai, he said there will be a boom in the blue economy of Tamil Nadu in the near future. “Tamil Nadu is charting a new course, turning its 1,000-km coastline into a corridor of immense blue economy opportunities,” he said.

“Tamil Nadu has set its sights on two sectors now — life sciences and shipbuilding. We want to give a big thrust to both sectors. We are also coming up with a maritime [and shipbuilding] policy. We are in talks with senior officials in New Delhi. We are working in tandem with the Government of India,” he said.

“Some of these sectors need something like viability gap funding (VGF). Most of the incentives today are packaged as semi-VGF. What the Government of Tamil Nadu does is understand what the requirement from industry is, and then adjust the policy accordingly to enable better and faster growth,” Mr. Rajaa said. There are several untouched minor ports that Tamil Nadu is keen to tap, he added.

Speaking at a session on ‘Tamil Nadu’s Next-Gen Maritime Industries: Shipbuilding, Clean Energy & Industrial Manufacturing’, Industries Secretary V. Arun Roy said Tamil Nadu wants to be not only a manufacturing powerhouse, but also an economy that offers world-class manufacturing services, R&D and IT services.

Two Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) worth ₹30,000 crore had already been signed by the Tamil Nadu government with Cochin Shipyard Ltd and Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd (MDL), he said. “We are also creating a special purpose vehicle in partnership with the Government of India to promote shipping infrastructure,” he added.

A slew of MoUs were signed by Chennai Port Trust, Kamarajar Port Limited, and V.O. Chidambaranar Port Authority. They include those for deployment of e-trucks and shore to ship power supply at V.O. Chidambaranar Port, dredging capital and maintenance at Chennai Port and railway siding development and maintenance at Kamarajar Port in the city.