Indian shipbuilding has a long tradition dating back to the Harappan civilization (3300-1300 BCE), whose archaeology offers evidence of an advanced dockyard facility at Lothal in Gujarat. Lothal is among the earliest known ports in the world. It was the most prominent Harappan port and housed an exceptional dockyard. Its engineering brilliance, with a tidal lock system and a carefully designed inlet, shows an advanced understanding of maritime needs. Some of the important maritime centers in the Harappan civilisation included Balakot, Kuntasi, and Sutkagan Dor, which connected inland trading cities to the Arabian Sea. The trade routes were carefully organised. During 1500-1000 BCE, the ancient city of Dwarka was the gateway of Indian ships to the west to trade with Syria and Cyprus. The prosperity of the Harappan Civilization is owed to its extensive Maritime activity, mainly due to a vast network of trade that stretched to the distant shores of Mesopotamia. Harappan ports were an example of one of the earliest examples of organized maritime commerce in the ancient world. The ancient shipwrights of their times had extraordinary familiarity with naval architecture and built ships that were resistant to monsoon wind pressure and dangerous weather patterns. 

By the Mauryan period (322-185 BCE), shipbuilding had become a royal industry. According to Megasthenes, the Greek ambassador, the Mauryan administration had a distinct naval ministry. The methods of shipbuilding documented in Kautilya’s Arthashastra indicate the scientific accuracy used in building various types of vessels, from small rivercraft to great seagoing ships. It also has details of an admiralty division established, which was responsible for navigation on the oceans, lakes, and seas. Therefore, the navy of the Magadh kingdom is the first-ever recorded instance of a navy in the world. During the rule of Ashoka, the Great, the Mauryan Empire covered almost the entire Indian subcontinent and had established trade relationships with Sri Lanka, Egypt, Syria, and Macedonia. 
The Tamil Sangam literature is well-detailed from 300 BCE to 300 CE, describing seafaring ships such as the ‘Kappal’ and ‘Thoni,’ which were the vital means of creating trading links with Southeast Asia, Rome, Greece, and Egypt. The excellence of Indian-constructed ships in the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal is well-referred to in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, a Greek text from the first century CE.  It was under the reign of the Chola Empire that the ancient Indian mercantile fleet and naval prowess flourished. Between the latter part of the ninth century CE and the beginning of the thirteenth century CE, the Cholas were at their peak of power. Mamallapuram, now known as Mahabalipuram, was the epicentre of trade during this period. Ancient Chola inscriptions harbour several terms used to describe ships, the most common word being ‘Kalam,’ or ‘Marakkalam’ for timber ships. The 17th century was the golden age for the Maratha Navy, which stood unchallenged along the West Coast of India. The Maratha Empire took shape after 1674, under the reign of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. He gained control of the Konkan coastal belt from the domain of the kings of Bijapur by 1659, recognizing the region as a vital route for overseas trade the naval strength of the Portuguese, the British, and the Siddi being potential threats hence, the requirement of a strong naval force. The inception of the Maratha Navy began with scouring local resources and implementing the ‘stitched-ship’ method of stitching wooden planks together rather than using nails. Some of the first shipyards of the Maratha Empire were developed in Kalyan and Bhiwandi, which were also important trading ports. Indian shipbuilders used a distinctive technique of ‘stitched construction,’ binding planks together with coir ropes, creating flexible hulls that could better absorb the shock of waves compared to the rigid, nail-fastened European ships.

Contemporary Challenges      

India is currently the world’s 16th-largest ship-producing nation, with some 27 shipyards constructing anything from fishing trawlers to carriers. Make in India has given a fresh push to indigenous shipbuilding. Yet there is a critical gap in the maritime industry to build the marine engine. We are building skeletons without hearts,India builds tremendous ship bodies but depends almost entirely on imported engines from countries like Germany, South Korea, and Japan.
This dependence has serious implications. Engines aboard ships typically cost 20-30% of the price of a ship. The annual foreign exchange outgo on marine propulsion systems is more than ₹15,000 crores. Beyond economics, this creates strategic vulnerabilities in terms of national security and supply chain resilience.