‘India has just about 1,500 ships’: CSL chairman Madhu Nair calls for bigger merchant fleet | THE WEEK Maritime Conclave 2025
Madhu Nair, chairman and managing director of Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL), speaks at THE WEEK Maritime Conclave 2025 at The Crowne Plaza in Kochi | Sanjoy Ghosh
Madhu Nair, chairman and managing director of Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL), called for the need of a bigger fleet of merchant ships for India, if the country wanted to realise the dream of ‘India at 100’.
“We are at a very important juncture,” said Nair, in his special address on Day 1 of THE WEEK Maritime Conclave 2025 at Crowne Plaza in Kochi. “We are reimagining ourselves as a country… India at 100 would be the leading light for the world.”
However, he pointed out that our fleet of merchant ships were not enough to realise the vision of ‘Bharat at 2047, India at 100’. “We are at just about 1,500 ships… we are much stronger than that. This situation cannot continue…” he pointed out.
Nair said the Union and state governments were taking steps to work to improve the situation. Now, stakeholders in the industry can talk about what to expect from the government and let the policymakers know what they want from the industry, he said. “Now, these kinds of discussions are happening.”
Bharat at 2047, India at 100
The CSL chairman hailed India’s growth trajectory in shipping and maritime sector as he addressed THE WEEK Maritime Conclave 2025.
“We are reimagining ourselves as a country, and it is long overdue…” he said. “The world has acknowledged we are the fastest growing large economy—beating other by a mile!”
India will be a “$30 trillion economy by 2047, he said.
Currently, the nation’s major and non-major ports move around 1,500 billion metric tons of cargo. And it is expected to grow by 6.5 to 8 per cent (or even up to 10 per cent, by more positive estimates) yearly.
India contributes to “4-ish per cent of the current global GDP of around $112 trillion”. In the current growth trajectory, “India should be 10 to 12 per cent of global GDP by 2047,” Nair said.
By the 100th year of India’s independence (2047), “we would have regained our place as the centrepiece of the world”.
THE WEEK Maritime Conclave 2025 will be held on September 15 and 16. Riyad Mathew, Chief Associate Editor and Director, THE WEEK, welcomed attendees and stakeholders from across the maritime and naval sectors.
The event began with the lighting of the lamp by Riyad Mathew, Madhu Nair, Commodore P.R. Hari, chairman and managing director, Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE), Elias George, former managing director, Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL), and Pradeep Jayaraman, CEO, Adani Vizhinjam Port Private Limited (AVPPL).
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