The Union Budget 2026 offers big support for coastal and inland shipping. The government promises ₹10,000 crore to help make containers in India. After COVID, India's focus has shifted to boosting local shipping. In September 2025, a ₹69,725 crore package was approved for State-owned Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) to buy merchant ships. This Budget sets aside ₹1,700 crore for this plan in 2026-27. Finance Minister said the government wants to double the cargo share of inland and coastal shipping from 6% to 12%. This will ease pressure on roads and railways and help farmers and small traders with cheaper transport. To encourage this, inland and coastal ship companies get tax relief through the tonnage tax scheme. This tax is 5% on presumed income, following global standards. New training centers for inland ship repair will open in Varanasi and Patna to create local jobs. The Budget also plans new Dedicated Freight Corridors connecting Dakuni in the east to Surat in the west. Twenty new national waterways will be made operational in five years, starting with the Brahmani-Mahanadhi waterway. This route will link mining areas in Talcher to industries and important ports like Paradeep and Dhamra. Amitabh Kumar, former director general of shipping, said, “Mahanadhi has rich potential for development and cargo carrying. But it needs sustained investment such as in periodic dredging to make this project work.” The container making push aims to build a global-level industry in India. Until now, importing containers, mainly from China, was cheaper because of higher costs and lack of local standards for container steel. Now, BIS standards match global levels, ensuring quality Indian-made containers. Experts want more support like land acquisition help, capital subsidies, and Production Linked Incentives (PLI). N. Bhanu Prakash from Indian Maritime University said, “The aim should be to ensure that when scaled up, the cost of production of containers comes down to global levels.” He also suggested mandating Indian-made containers could help the industry.