Q. India’s emergence as the world’s leading ship recycling nation reflects the growing importance of circular economy in maritime development. Discuss.
(GS Paper III – Maritime Economy / Environment / Industrial Development )
Introduction:
India became the world’s leading ship recycling nation in 2025, with its global market share rising to 35.4%. This achievement reflects the transformation of ship recycling from conventional dismantling into a regulated, modern and circular-economy-based maritime industry.
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Circular Economy and Resource Security
Ship recycling recovers steel and reusable materials from end-of-life vessels. The Alang-Sosiya cluster in Gujarat, which accounts for about 98% of India’s ship recycling activity, produces nearly 3.50 million metric tonnes of steel annually through recycling. This reduces pressure on natural resources and supports domestic steel availability.
Regulatory Transformation
India’s progress has been supported by the Ship Recycling Act, 2019, Ship Recycling Rules, 2021 and Ship Recycling Regulations, 2026. These provide for yard authorisation, ship recycling plans, hazardous-material management, worker safety and reporting. Alignment with the Hong Kong Convention, which became legally binding in June 2025, has strengthened India’s global credibility.
Economic and Industrial Benefits
Ship recycling generates employment and supports ancillary industries such as transport, re-rolling mills, equipment supply and waste management. The Ship-breaking Credit Note Scheme links ship recycling with domestic shipbuilding by encouraging shipowners to recycle vessels at compliant Indian yards.
Challenges
The sector must address hazardous-material risks, worker safety, environmental compliance, coastal pollution concerns and the need for continuous modernisation.
Way Forward
India should expand green-compliant recycling capacity, strengthen worker welfare, promote mechanised dismantling, improve waste-treatment systems, support EU green-listing and integrate recycled steel into domestic manufacturing.
Conclusion:
India’s leadership in ship recycling can become a pillar of sustainable maritime growth if capacity expansion is matched with environmental safeguards, global compliance and worker protection.
Q. GOBARdhan can convert India’s waste challenge into an energy security opportunity. Discuss.
(GS Paper III – Energy Security / Environment / Waste Management)
Introduction:
India generates huge quantities of agricultural residue, cattle dung, press mud, municipal organic waste and biomass. The GOBARdhan Scheme — Galvanising Organic Bio-Agro Resources Dhan — aims to convert this waste into Compressed Biogas (CBG), organic manure and rural income. The new National Circular Bioenergy Scheme seeks to increase domestic CBG production and strengthen India’s bioenergy ecosystem.
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1. Conversion of Waste into Clean Fuel
GOBARdhan uses anaerobic digestion, where organic waste is broken down in the absence of oxygen to produce biogas. This biogas is purified and compressed to form CBG, which has properties similar to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). Therefore, it can be used in transport, industry, commercial sectors and city gas networks.
2. Energy Security Benefits
India depends on imports for a significant share of its natural gas requirement. Domestic CBG production can reduce import dependence, protect India from global supply and price shocks, and support the transition towards cleaner fuels. Since CBG can be blended with CNG and PNG, it can be integrated into the existing gas infrastructure.
3. Rural Economy and Farmer Income
The scheme can create additional income opportunities for farmers, cooperatives, MSMEs and rural entrepreneurs by monetising cattle dung, crop residue and biomass. It can also support decentralised bioenergy plants in rural areas.
4. Environmental and Circular Economy Gains
GOBARdhan can reduce open dumping, unmanaged organic waste, methane emissions and stubble-burning pressures. The by-product from CBG plants can be used as organic manure, improving soil health and supporting sustainable agriculture.
5. Commercial Viability Measures
The new framework supports CBG projects through assured offtake, CBG blending obligations, stable administered pricing, capital assistance, pipeline infrastructure and credit guarantee support. These measures address earlier bottlenecks such as weak demand, high capital cost and poor market linkage.
6. Key Challenges
Major challenges include reliable feedstock aggregation, poor waste segregation, high initial investment, limited pipeline connectivity, quality standards and weak local institutional capacity.
Way Forward
India should strengthen village-level feedstock collection, promote source segregation, support MSMEs and cooperatives, expand pipeline connectivity, ensure timely offtake by city gas entities and build technical capacity among local bodies and entrepreneurs.
Conclusion:
GOBARdhan can transform India’s waste burden into a strategic energy asset. By linking waste management, rural income, clean fuel and circular economy, it can strengthen India’s energy security. Its success will depend on strong local implementation, private investment, reliable feedstock systems and integration with India’s broader clean energy transition.
