The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the Container Manufacturing Promotion Scheme (CMPS), months after it was allocated ₹10,000 crore under the Union Budget 2026-27.
Aimed at building a globally competitive container manufacturing ecosystem in India, the CMPS will run from FY 2027-28 to FY 2039-40, which includes three years for setting up facilities and ten years of production support.
This is a major push for container production in-house, reducing dependence on foreign suppliers and also supporting India's larger aims under the Make in India and Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision 2047.
The CMPS aims to take in-house container production from about 70,000 TEUs to 7.5 lakh TEUs, which is expected to supplement container handling by boosting it from 24 million TEUs in 2024 to 175 million TEUs by 2047—by which time India seeks to become one of the world's top five maritime superpowers.
The biggest chunk of the scheme's funds is directed towards operational expenditure assistance (OEA), for which ₹8,891 crore from the total outlay has been allocated.
It subsidises production costs for every container made to global shipping standards and sold by an eligible manufacturer, with a view to increase each one's domestic content from 70 per cent to 90 per cent.
Interest subvention assistance (ISA) has been allocated ₹859 crore of the total outlay, in order to provide 3 per cent annual interest subsidy on eligible term loans for greenfield projects of at least 1 lakh TEUs a year and brownfield expansions of at least 25,000 TEUs a year.
₹150 crore of the outlay has been set aside to aid common testing and certification facilities, such as dynamic longitudinal impact testing, while ₹100 crore will go towards administration, monitoring, and capacity building.
The CMPS also aims to provide leasing support of 25 per cent of the notified rate for land from major ports.
An Inter-Ministerial Steering Committee chaired by Vijay Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW), will approve guidelines and sanction assistance.
The CMPS is expected to create about 3,000 direct jobs—and more than 50,000 indirect jobs—in steel, components and logistics. It will also support ancillary industries such as corner castings, specialised steel, wooden frames and paints.
"(The) Make in India push is giving our container manufacturers the confidence to build at scale, and this scheme is a strong step to reduce import dependence," Union Minister, MoPSW, Sarbananda Sonowal said in a statement.
