ABG hopes to see revival of shipyard subsidy

Dhananjay Datar, chief financial officer of ABG Shipyard, said his wish list for the 2013 Budget is focussed on giving boost to local shipbuilders through various initiatives. They could include revival of shipbuilding subsidy, infrastructure status, incentives for local built and owned vessels, expanding scope of subsidy to cover all category of assets built by shipyards whether owned in India or for export, and so forth.

“Cheaper long term finance for setting up of shipyards will be an encouragement and incentive to get into new areas like offshore construction for oil majors like ONGC. The Budget should recognise this sector as infrastructure and make a comprehensive package,” Datar said.

“One more important step will be to give preference to Indian built assets in oil and gas, shipping sector with weightage for new assets over old ones.”