Context:

• The 2025 Union Budget has laid a strong foundation for India's shipbuilding sector.
• Key announcements include Rs 25,000-crore Maritime Development Fund, establishment of mega shipbuilding clusters, customs duty exemptions for shipbuilding inputs, infrastructure status for large vessels, etc.
• Strategic global partnerships and private investments aim to position India among the top five shipbuilding nations by 2047. However, to truly lead, India must build what powers the ship - an engine.

The Engine Gap - A Strategic Vulnerability:

• Current scenario:
  • Over 90% of marine engines (above 6 MW) on Indian ships are imported.
  • This import is dominated by five global manufacturers: MAN Energy Solutions (Germany), Wärtsilä (Finland), Rolls-Royce (UK), Caterpillar-MaK (US/Germany), and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (Japan).
• Strategic risks:
  • Dependence on proprietary electronic control units (ECUs), software, and IP-bound components.
  • Export control regulations (EU Dual-Use, US EAR, Japan METI) can block supplies citing national security concerns - creating technological chokepoints.

Indigenous Efforts:

• Initial step: Indian Navy’s Rs 270-crore deal with Kirloskar Oil Engines Ltd to develop a 6 MW marine diesel engine.
• Vision: Development of 30 MW class engines for larger vessels and warships.

Challenges to Indigenous Marine Engine Development:

• Lack of modern engine design capabilities:
  • Marine engine design is a critical determinant of propulsion efficiency, thermal performance, emissions compliance, structural durability, and system integration in large vessels.
  • These designs must optimize key parameters to meet International Maritime Organization Tier III emission standards and enable integration with hybrid propulsion, waste heat recovery.
• India’s dependence on foreign OEMs: Restricts its ability to modify engines for military profiles, optimize for local climatic and operational conditions, or transition to fuel-flexible, autonomous maritime systems.
• Metallurgical deficiency:
  • It is India’s most significant and foundational hurdle that cuts across materials science, manufacturing precision, and component durability under extreme thermal and mechanical conditions.
  • Materials like high-chromium steels, nickel-based superalloys, and thermally stable composites are essential, but India lacks capability to produce these at required scale and quality.
• Tribology (science of wear, lubrication, and friction) and precision manufacturing bottlenecks:
  • High-efficiency marine engines demand components with tailored surface properties to reduce wear and frictional losses over thousands of operating hours.
  • This necessitates advanced coatings like thermal barrier ceramics, diamond-like carbon and plasma-sprayed composites, which require both sophisticated application techniques and precision control.
  • India’s ecosystem lacks scalable industrial integration.
• Outdated training and skill development:
  • Training institutes use obsolete models.
  • Potential solution: Decommissioned modern engines from Alang (world’s largest) ship-breaking yard for training purposes.

Strategic Way Forward:

• Startup-led innovation: Leverage startups for agility, cross-disciplinary innovation, and risk-taking ability.
• Government role:
  • Promote innovation missions, design-linked incentives, and dedicated marine propulsion R&D.
  • Start-ups must be supported not only with capital, but also through access to testbeds, IP support, and public procurement guarantees.
  • Need for access to:
    • 3D modeling software.
    • Thermodynamic and combustion simulation tools.
    • Structural/thermal stress analysis systems.
    • Embedded system development platforms.
• Institutional support: IIT Madras and others can serve as anchor nodes, supporting venture creation with lab-to-market pipelines.

Conclusion - Engine of Independence:

• While India is advancing in ship construction, engine production remains a critical gap.
• Indigenous marine engine development is vital for strategic autonomy, similar to the jet engine challenge in aviation (e.g., Tejas fighter jet).
• Without domestic engines, India risks maritime dependency even in indigenously built ships.