New Delhi, Oct 27: Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has urged South Korean firms to invest in India’s shipbuilding ecosystem, saying India seeks universally applicable global maritime rules, according to an official statement.
Sonowal is on a 4-day visit to South Korea.
India’s starting point is that international standards should stay ambitious and universal, while implementation recognises differences in national circumstances, development, technology and access to finance, he said on Monday.
According to the statement, the minister cited the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities.
Sonowal called IMO conventions an “operational lighthouse” for shipping at a time of geopolitical instability, piracy and disruption in the Red Sea, protecting seafarers, trade and supply chains. The best way to narrow gaps, he said, is practical partnership, joint working groups that pair countries that have implemented a convention with countries still building the capacity, training surveyors and inspectors, helping draft laws and setting time-bound plans. Sonowal said the aim is to leave behind permanent national capability rather than creating continuing dependence.
The minister said India has done its own groundwork. “Five maritime laws enacted in 2025 took effect in March 2026, India’s Maritime Single Window covers 69 ports and terminals, and the Alang-Sosiya yard has 115 ship recycling facilities that comply with the Hong Kong Convention (HKC) within the IMO framework,” he said.
The same theme ran through Sonowal’s meeting with the Korea Marine Equipment Association, known as KOMEA, a group founded in 1980 that represents 304 equipment makers, design firms, shipbuilders and repairers. Its members include HD Hyundai, Hanwha Ocean and Samsung Heavy Industries.
KOMEA will open its first India office in Mumbai on October 30, a step the two governments welcomed in April under VOYAGES, their framework for cooperation in shipbuilding, shipping and maritime logistics.
In February 2025, the association offered to work with Indian yards on design, modernisation, technology transfer, joint education programmes and the local manufacture of marine equipment and spare parts.
KOMEA Chairman Ho-il Kang said members have begun preparing to enter the Indian market within the next two years. KOMEA members, including SB Sunbo, Daeyang, KASEMEC, JO Engineering and others, discussed plans for possible investment in India’s maritime sector.
PTI