In 2025, India became the world's leading ship recycling nation, accounting for 35.4% of global ship recycling volume. Alang-Sosiya Ship Recycling Yard, established in 1982-83 in Gujarat, handles 98% of India's ship recycling activity. The yard has 128 currently operational plots having recycling capacity of 4.5 million LDT per annum. Since the inception, more than 8,900 ships aggregating more than 71 million LDT have been recycled at Alang yard.

Alang-Sosiya Ship Recycling Yard promotes circular economy through recovery and reuse of steel and other materials, conserving resources and reducing carbon emissions. It provides direct employment to about 15,000 workers and supports over 1.5 lakh people indirectly through ancillary industries and allied services, thus making it the cornerstone of India's ship recycling sector and a globally recognized hub for sustainable and environmentally sound ship recycling.

A comprehensive health, safety, and welfare framework has been established for workers at the Alang-Sosiya Ship Recycling Yard. A multispeciality hospital was commissioned in March 2019 and upgraded in January 2025 to a 35-bed Level III Trauma Centre. Operated by the Indian Red Cross Society, the hospital provides advanced medical facilities, including an Intensive Care Unit (ICU), MRI, CT scan, Burns Unit, and Operation Theatre. Staffed by 43 healthcare professionals, the hospital offers free medical services and has treated more than 4.79 lakh patients as of June 2026. In addition, financial assistance is provided for the maintenance and operation of another primary hospital at Alang, Gujarat.
More than 1.57 lakh workers have been trained at the Safety and Labour Welfare Institute established by the Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB) in 2003. Mandatory safety training, use of personal protective equipment (PPE), firefighting, emergency response, and occupational health monitoring are strictly implemented for workers in the ship recycling yards.
For worker welfare, the GMB has developed a housing colony with accommodation for 1,008 persons, supported by essential civic amenities.

The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW) has taken various steps to ensure compliance of the Alang-Sosiya ship recycling yards with the Hong Kong Convention (HKC), 2009 which entered into force in June 2025. The MoPSW established a comprehensive legal framework through the Recycling of Ships Act, 2019, the Recycling of Ship Rules, 2021 and the Recycling of Ships Regulations, 2026 aligning domestic ship recycling practices with the HKC requirements. Ship recycling facilities are required to maintain approved Ship Recycling Facility Management Plans and implement recycling operations through approved Ship Recycling Plans. To ensure compliance, the GMB has empanelled recognized organizations for inspection, certification and compliance verification, while also regularly conducting audits, safety monitoring and environmental compliance checks.

The GMB maintains environmental safeguards through a Treatment, Storage and Disposal Facility (TSDF) comprising hazardous and non-hazardous waste landfills, effluent treatment facilities, and incineration facilities.
To strengthen the ship recycling ecosystem, financial assistance of ? 53.5 crore under the Ferrous Scrap Development Fund (FSDF) has been released to Indian ship recycling yards. As a result of these proactive measures undertaken, 115 ship recycling plots at Alang have achieved HKC compliance, demonstrating India's readiness and leadership in safe and environmentally sound ship recycling.
A master plan has been prepared by the Government of Gujarat to expand the capacity of the Alang-Sosiya Ship Recycling Yard from 4.5 million LDT to 9 million LDT per annum through phased development.
To enhance the competitiveness of the Indian ship recycling industry, the Government of India has launched the Shipbreaking Credit Note Scheme. Under the scheme, ship owners receive a credit note equivalent to 40% of the scrap value of a recycled ship when the recycling is carried out at an HKC-compliant Indian ship recycling yard. The credit note can be utilized towards payment of up to 5% of the contract value of a new ship built at an Indian shipyard, thereby promoting both domestic ship recycling and shipbuilding.

Further, the Government of India has approached the European authorities to expedite the inclusion of eligible Indian ship recycling yards in the European Union (EU) List of Approved Ship Recycling Facilities.

This information was given by the Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal, in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

Source: PIB

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