India has launched the Bharat Maritime Insurance Pool (BMIP), a $1.5 billion initiative backed by a sovereign guarantee of $1.4 billion, aimed at providing uninterrupted maritime insurance coverage.
The move comes amid rising global geopolitical tensions, including recent developments in the Middle East, to safeguard the country’s shipping and trade operations. The beneficiaries of the coverage include Vedanta Sterlite Copper Ltd, Balrampur Chini Mills Ltd, and Hoger Offshore and Marine Pvt Ltd.
According to the statement, the pool has been created to ensure uninterrupted maritime insurance coverage for Indian-flagged or Indian-controlled vessels, as well as ships operating to and from Bharat. The insurance pool will provide coverage for a wide range of maritime risks, including Hull and Machinery, Cargo, Protection and Indemnity (P&I), and War Risk insurance.
In April, the Union cabinet approved the setting up of the BMI Pool to cover a wide range of maritime risks.
Launching the pool, Financial Services Secretary M Nagaraju said that it would bridge a key gap in India’s maritime trade, which has so far relied heavily on foreign insurers. The pool offers a sovereign guarantee of $1.4 billion to support uninterrupted maritime insurance coverage.
“We will insure vessels coming to or going from India to any part of the world; that includes West Asia,” he said, adding that it was not aimed at profiteering from but at assuring India’s maritime trade.
The government stated that the initiative would strengthen the country’s financial sovereignty and ensure continuity of maritime trade operations during global uncertainties as its economic power rises globally.
