Cabinet Approves Rs 10,000 Crore Container Manufacturing Promotion Scheme: Why India Wants to Make Its Own Shipping Boxes
The Union Cabinet approved the Container Manufacturing Promotion Scheme (CMPS) with an outlay of Rs 10,000 crore. It was first announced in the Union Budget 2026-27 (where it was called the Container Manufacturing Assistance Scheme).
The scheme will run from FY 2027-28 to FY 2039-40. The first three years are for setting up factories, and the next ten years are for production support. The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways is the nodal ministry, and an inter-ministerial steering committee headed by its Secretary will oversee it.
India makes only about 70,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) of containers a year. The scheme aims to raise this to about 7.5 lakh TEUs a year, roughly ten times more.
Support has four parts: operational expenditure assistance (Rs 8,891 crore), interest subvention of 3% a year on eligible term loans (Rs 859 crore), testing and certification facilities (Rs 150 crore) and scheme management (Rs 100 crore).
Operational assistance is paid per container sold that meets international shipping standards: Rs 49,500 for a 20-foot container and Rs 86,625 for a 40-foot container. A new factory must have a capacity of at least 1 lakh TEUs a year; an expansion must add at least 25,000 TEUs. Factories must start within three years of in-principle approval.
The scheme aims to create about 3,000 direct and over 50,000 indirect jobs, raise local sourcing of parts from 70% to 90%, and let manufacturers lease land at major ports at 25% of the notified rate.
Container Shipping and the TEU Metric
A shipping container is a large, strong steel box of a fixed standard size that carries goods by ship, train and truck without being opened in between. Because every container in the world has the same basic size and the same corner fittings, any crane, ship, rail wagon or truck can lift and carry any container. The TEU (Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit) is the unit used to count containers: one 20-foot container is 1 TEU, and one 40-foot container is 2 TEUs. Ship sizes, port traffic and factory output are all measured in TEUs.
The Container Manufacturing Promotion Scheme measures its goal in TEUs: from about 70,000 TEUs a year to about 7.5 lakh TEUs a year. Because almost all of the world's containers are made in one country, India is trying to build its own capacity so its exporters are not left without boxes during the next global shock.
Shipbuilding Financial Assistance Policy and the Shipbuilding Development Scheme
The Shipbuilding Financial Assistance Policy (SBFAP) is a Government of India scheme that pays Indian shipyards a fixed percentage of the price of each ship they build, so they can compete with cheaper yards in China, South Korea and Japan. It was first launched in 2016. In September 2025, the Union Cabinet approved a much larger Rs 69,725 crore package for shipbuilding and the maritime sector, which renewed this support and added new funds. The container scheme is the newest piece of this same push to build India's own maritime industry.
Ships and containers are two halves of the same trade system. After supporting shipyards in 2025, the government is now supporting the making of the boxes those ships carry, so that more of India's sea trade depends on Indian-made equipment.
- Scheme: Container Manufacturing Promotion Scheme (CMPS); announced in Union Budget 2026-27; approved by Union Cabinet in October 2026
- Outlay: Rs 10,000 crore (operational assistance Rs 8,891 crore; interest subvention Rs 859 crore; testing and certification Rs 150 crore; scheme management Rs 100 crore)
- Period: FY 2027-28 to FY 2039-40 (3 years to set up, 10 years of production support)
- Nodal ministry: Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways
- Capacity: about 70,000 TEUs a year now; target about 7.5 lakh TEUs a year
- Per-container support: Rs 49,500 (20-foot), Rs 86,625 (40-foot)
- Interest subvention: 3% a year on eligible term loans
- Minimum capacity: 1 lakh TEUs a year for a new unit; at least 25,000 TEUs added for an expansion; commissioning within 3 years of in-principle approval
- Local sourcing target: 70% to 90%; land at major ports leased at 25% of notified rate
- Jobs: about 3,000 direct and over 50,000 indirect