Plan to recycle 15,000 ships at Alang in next decade: Gujarat govt

Alang has 150 ship recycling yards of which 128 are operational
| Photo Credit:
VIJAY SONEJI

Presenting a very ambitious plan for ship recycling on the inaugural day of the “India Maritime Week 2025” at Mumbai on Monday, Gujarat government said it plans to recycle 15,000 ageing ships at Alang shipbreaking yard in the State over the next decade.

“We are doubling ship recycling capacity at Alang, preparing to recycle over 15,000 ships in the next decade by following strict environment norms,” Ramesh Chand Meena, Principal Secretary, Ports and Transport department, Gujarat government while speaking at the event .

While the Gujarat government has set itself a target of breaking 1,500 ships a year, the shipbreaking activities at Alang have been on a steady decline since 2011-12 when the yard handled a record 415 end-of-life ships for recycling. The numbers ship arrivals have steadily fallen at the yard in Bhavnagar district, with just 113 ships beaching at the yard during 2024-25. This financial year, only 44 ships have come to Alang (till August 2025).

In a presentation made by Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB) at the India Maritime Week, an official said 8,800 ships of over 70 million tonnes of LDT have been recycled at Alang ever since the yard was set up four decades ago in 1983. Alang has 150 ship recycling yards of which 128 are operational. However, shipbreakers at Alang told businessline that just 25-30 per cent of these yards have ships for recycling. The rest are lying empty.

Despite the vacancy, the Gujarat government is in the process of doubling the capacity of Alang from 4.5 million LDT to 9 million LDT. About 86 per cent of the total yards at Alang are HKC-complaint while three yards are under audit for compliance with EU shiprecycling regulations, a GMB official said on Monday.

Published on October 27, 2025