India’s push to expand its merchant fleet and cut dependence on foreign shipping has brought five listed maritime companies into focus. Here’s how SCI, GE Shipping, Cochin Shipyard, Mazagon Dock and GRSE connect with the evolving opportunity.
India’s plan to add 100 vessels to its merchant fleet over the next five years has put the country’s shipping and shipbuilding companies back in focus. The National Shipping Board’s (NSB) roadmap, discussed at the inaugural Sagar Samvad, seeks to address fiscal reforms, assured cargo support, access to competitive financing, regulatory processes and ease of doing business, as India looks to reduce a foreign freight outgo estimated at around $75 billion annually.
The proposal does not name companies or allocate vessels. But several listed businesses already have operating fleets, commercial shipbuilding orders, vessel contracts or capacity expansion projects that connect them with the broader push to expand India’s maritime capability.
Shipping Corporation of India and Great Eastern Shipping bring existing merchant fleets. Cochin Shipyard already has a sizeable commercial vessel order book. Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders has a $39 million commercial vessel contract from Shipping Corporation of India. Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers is part of a wider programme to expand domestic shipbuilding capacity.
The roadmap centres on five areas: fiscal reforms, assured cargo support, access to competitive financing, regulatory streamlining and improved ease of doing business.
The policy comes against the backdrop of India’s estimated $75 billion annual foreign freight outgo, with the government seeking greater Indian participation in the transportation of the country’s trade.
For shipping companies, financing and cargo availability are among the operating issues addressed in the roadmap. For domestic shipyards, the eventual structure of fleet expansion will be important in determining whether additional demand translates into new vessel construction.
Shipping Corporation of India operates 58 vessels
Shipping Corporation of India, or SCI, has the most direct existing connection with the objective of expanding Indian-owned shipping capacity.
As of March 31, 2026, SCI operated a fleet of 58 vessels with an aggregate capacity of 5.261 million deadweight tonnes. Its fleet spans crude oil tankers, product tankers, bulk carriers, gas carriers, container vessels and offshore vessels.
During FY26, SCI acquired two Very Large Gas Carriers, Sahyadri and Shivalik.
The company has also entered into several arrangements connected with expanding shipping operations.
In September 2025, SCI signed a memorandum of understanding with major oil public sector companies for the joint acquisition, ownership, operation and management of vessels for international and coastal transportation of petroleum, petroleum products, petrochemicals and other hydrocarbon cargoes.
In February 2026, SCI entered into another arrangement with Container Corporation of India, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority, V.O. Chidambaranar Port Authority, Chennai Port Authority and Sagarmala Finance Corporation for acquiring, owning, leasing and operating container vessels, containers and related assets for export-import and coastal trade.
SCI’s liner operations had a nominal capacity of around 20,000 twenty-foot equivalent units as of March 31, 2026. The business included two owned container vessels, two chartered vessels and loading rights on 17 partner vessels through consortium arrangements.
SCI therefore enters the 100-vessel policy discussion with an existing fleet, recent additions and multiple expansion-related arrangements already in place.
According to its Q1 FY27 disclosures, the company operated 40 ships with an average fleet age of 14.5 years.
For the June quarter, Great Eastern Shipping reported revenue of Rs 2,286 crore, EBITDA of Rs 1,619 crore and profit after tax of Rs 1,309 crore. The company reported net cash of Rs 8,056 crore.
The company’s existing fleet covers tankers and dry bulk carriers, placing its operations within the broader merchant shipping ecosystem targeted by the National Shipping Board’s roadmap.
The policy’s focus on competitive financing and cargo support is particularly relevant to fleet operators. Great Eastern Shipping’s current disclosures, however, do not identify a vessel acquisition programme linked to the proposed 100-vessel addition.
Its existing fleet and balance-sheet position are therefore the disclosed data points connecting it with the theme.
Cochin Shipyard has Rs 5,900 crore of commercial orders book
Cochin Shipyard’s connection comes from its existing commercial shipbuilding business.
Based on its latest disclosed order-book data, the company had a total order book of around Rs 21,100 crore, covering 75 vessels and ship-repair orders.
Around Rs 13,700 crore of the order book was related to defence. The commercial order book included approximately Rs 1,700 crore of domestic orders and Rs 4,200 crore of export orders, taking the commercial order pipeline to around Rs 5,900 crore.
The composition of that commercial book also includes approximately Rs 2,300 crore of green-vessel orders and around Rs 3,600 crore of conventional vessel orders.
The latest quarterly numbers show a change in the contribution from its two principal businesses. In Q1 FY27, shipbuilding revenue rose to Rs 700.04 crore from Rs 438.97 crore in Q1 FY26. Ship-repair revenue stood at Rs 394.17 crore, compared with Rs 629.62 crore a year earlier.
Consolidated profit after tax for Q1 FY27 was Rs 151.45 crore, compared with Rs 187.83 crore in Q1 FY26.
The proposed merchant-fleet addition has not yet resulted in a disclosed order for Cochin Shipyard. Its current relevance lies in the commercial vessel work already present in its order book.
Cochin Shipyard share price performance
In March 2026, Mazagon Dock signed a contract with SCI for the construction of a 3,000-deadweight-tonne methanol dual-fuel platform supply vessel.
The contract was valued at around $39 million.
The order predates the National Shipping Board’s 100-vessel roadmap. It nevertheless places Mazagon Dock among the listed shipbuilders with an existing commercial vessel relationship with SCI.
As of June 30, 2026, Mazagon Dock’s order book stood at approximately Rs 18,218 crore.
For Q1 FY27, the company reported consolidated revenue of around Rs 2,943 crore and consolidated profit after tax of approximately Rs 549 crore.
Mazagon Dock’s wider order book should not be treated as merchant-shipping exposure. The specific disclosed data point relevant to this story is its $39 million SCI contract for the methanol dual-fuel platform supply vessel.
