'India pays $75 bn to foreign shipping firms per year': PM Modi calls for 'Atmanirbhar shipbuilding'

Bhavnagar, Gujarat: Prime Minister Narendra Modi says, "Instead of focusing on shipbuilding in India, Congress preferred to hire foreign ships. This weakened India’s shipbuilding ecosystem. Over time, for 95% of our trade, we became dependent on foreign-built ships, which caused us significant losses...Citizens will be surprised to know that India pays nearly 75 billion dollars every year—about 6 lakh crore rupees—to foreign shipping companies for shipping services, as rent. This is almost equal to India’s entire defense budget