Joint Ministerial Review for Wider Use of Recycled Ship Steel to Boost Circular Economy

·         Joint review meeting: A meeting was held under the chairmanship of H. D. Kumaraswamy, Minister of Steel & Heavy Industries, and Sarbananda Sonowal, Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, to review the use of steel recovered from ship recycling.

·         Stakeholder participation: Representatives from Department of Science and Technology (DST), Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB) and Ship Recycling Industries Association (SRIA) participated.

·         Regulatory framework: The meeting examined the existing regulatory framework governing the use of secondary steel obtained through ship recycling.

·         Wider applications: Discussions focused on expanding the use of recycled ship steel into additional sectors, with the objective of generating greater value from ship recycling.

·         Ship recycling hub: The initiative seeks to reinforce India’s position as a leading global ship-recycling hub.

·         Circular economy: Greater utilisation of recycled steel is intended to promote circular economy practices, improve resource efficiency and support sustainable industrial activity.

·         Domestic steel industry: The initiative also aims to support domestic steel manufacturing by increasing the productive use of secondary steel.

·         Sustainability: The Government reiterated its objective of ensuring that India’s ship-recycling industry continues to meet global benchmarks in sustainability and efficiency.

Effect: Wider acceptance and application of recycled ship steel could increase the value recovery from end-of-life vessels, reduce material wastage and strengthen the integration of ship recycling with India’s domestic steel ecosystem.

 

[ABS News Service/17.09.2026]

A joint meeting was held under the chairmanship of H D Kumaraswamy, Minister of Steel & Heavy Industries and Sarbananda Sonowal, Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways to discuss and review the usage of steel obtained from recycling of ships.

The meeting was attended by key stakeholders, including the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB), and the Ship Recycling Industries Association (SRIA), to examine the existing regulatory framework and explore avenues for usage of secondary steel obtained from ship recycling.

The discussions were held focusing on expanding the application of recycled ship steel to additional sectors, with a view to enhancing value generation from ship recycling and reinforcing India’s position as the world’s leading ship recycling hub.

The meeting underscored Government’s commitment to promote circular economy practices, supporting domestic steel manufacturing, and ensuring that India’s ship recycling industry continues to set global benchmarks in sustainability and efficiency.