For both countries, the partnership represents a strategic step towards shared growth, resilience, and long-term competitiveness in global shipbuilding
A growing shipbuilding partnership between South Korea and India is shaping up to be far more than a simple business arrangement. At its core, the collaboration promises mutual gains by blending South Korea’s advanced shipbuilding expertise with India’s expanding industrial base and rising maritime demand.
For South Korea, access to Indian shipyards offers a practical solution to a long-standing challenge: limited capacity at home. South Korean yards are among the busiest in the world, often stretched by high global demand. Working with overseas yards in India helps ease this pressure while also reducing risks linked to over-reliance on a single supply chain or region. It gives Korean companies greater flexibility to deliver projects on time and at scale.
India, on the other hand, stands to benefit from South Korea’s strengths in high-end engineering, digital ship design, and automation. Exposure to these technologies can help modernise Indian shipyards, improve productivity, and raise build quality. This knowledge transfer is especially valuable as India pushes to upgrade its maritime manufacturing under broader industrial and infrastructure programmes.
The partnership also opens new markets for South Korean shipbuilders. By having a local presence in India, Korean yards can tap into the country’s growing demand for commercial vessels such as cargo ships, tankers, and offshore support vessels
There is also strong potential in naval and coast guard newbuilding, as India continues to invest heavily in maritime security and indigenous defence production.
Beyond individual projects, developing a fresh shipbuilding ecosystem in India allows South Korean firms to serve domestic needs, reach previously untapped regional markets, and play a role in managing and upgrading maritime infrastructure across the Indian Ocean region.
