“Till now, we had to import these dredgers from a Dutch firm — IHC Holland — which has a monopoly in this market. With the making of this dredger, we are foraying into building a full-scale dredger manufacturing ecosystem.
The long-term aim is to be self-reliant in manufacturing,” a senior ministry official said, adding that production opportunities can open up for several private players in the future.
“As the economy grows, we need to incorporate more dredgers in the maritime ecosystem,” Sonowal said.
“While the cost of importing vis-à-vis manufacturing is largely similar, we save valuable foreign exchange and generate growth opportunities for the micro small and medium enterprise (MSME) sector by making it in India,” the official said.
“Currently, 70 per cent of our dredging requirement is for maintenance dredging (maintaining water bodies previously dredged), while the rest accounts for capital dredging (desilting for new projects),” Inland Waterways Authority of India Chairman Sanjay Bandopadhyaya said, adding that it is expected to double by 2030.
“We’ll do an evaluation after the first two are built, and we’ll take our next steps based on the demand and supply,” said another senior government official, adding that there are no other immediate or medium-term targets for domestic production of dredgers.
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