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Informist, Saturday, Apr. 18, 2026

 

--Cabinet OKs INR 129.80 bln sovereign funds for maritime insurance 

--Cabinet: Maritime insurance to cover for 10 yrs, extendable for 15 yrs 

 

NEW DELHI – The Union Cabinet on Saturday approved the creation of a domestic insurance pool with a sovereign guarantee of INR 129.80 billion to facilitate continuous maritime insurance coverage. The 'Bharat Maritime Insurance Pool' will ensure that Indian trade continues to have access to affordable insurance for vessels carrying cargo from any international origin to Indian ports and vice-versa, even when transiting volatile maritime corridors, the government said in a release. The duration of the pool is 10 years, and it is extendable up to 15 years.

 

With increased global volatility and geopolitical instability, maritime trade has been impacted with higher risk of losses for cargo and vessels resulting in increased insurance costs and uncertainty in continuous availability of insurance, the government said. Due to the prevailing geopolitical issues, there is a need for a domestic maritime risk covering pool to maintain sovereignty and continuity of trade in face of withdrawal of coverage due to sanctions or due to geopolitical tensions.

 

Currently, "there is high dependence of Indian vessels on International Group of Protection and Indemnity Club for protection and indemnity insurance covering third-party liabilities like oil pollution liability, wreck removal, cargo damage, crew injury and repatriation, collision liabilities and so on," the release said. The maritime insurance pool for Indian flagged or controlled vessels will be backed by a sovereign guarantee. 

 

The pool will cover all maritime risks like hull and machinery, cargo, protection and indemnity and war risk. "The policies will be issued by insurers that are Pool members, using the combined underwriting capacity of the Pool, which would be around INR 9.50 billion. The Pool will help to manage liability insurance locally, tailored to Indian Shipping conditions and regulatory requirements, develop specialized Marine underwriting, claims management and legal expertise within India," the release said.

 

The government said that a governing body would be constituted for this pool, and it would oversee the formation and functioning of the pool. "The rationale for providing a sovereign guarantee to the proposed domestic insurance entity is rooted in the objectives of strengthening self-reliance, sanctions resilience and ensuring greater sovereign control," the release said.  End

 

Reported by Sagar Sen

Edited by Avishek Dutta

 

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