L to R-Sanjay Lohiya,special secretary, Department of Financial Services(DFS), M. Nagaraju,secretary, DFS, officials from Vedanta Sterlite and Balram Chini Mills, Girija Subramanian,CMD, New India Assurance, Kasturi Sengupta, secretary general, GI Council, Hitesh Joshi, acting CMD, GIC Re, at an event on Tuesday to launch Bharat Marine Pool in New Delhi

$1.5 billion Bharat Marine Pool covers all maritime risks such as Hull and Machinery, Cargo, P&I and War risk for Indian flagged or controlled vessels or vessels destined to or starting from India, in the context of the current Middle East tensions.

A Marine Cargo War Policy was presented to M/s. Vedanta Sterlite copper Ltd., covering its import of cable wires. A policy was also issued to Balrampur Chini Mills.

New Delhi:M. Nagaraju,Secretary, Department of Financial Services, has kickstarted the newly set up $1.5 billion ‘Bharat Maritime Insurance Pool’ (BMIP) by handing over the first Marine Hull & Machinery War Policy document to M/s. Hoger Offshore and Marine Private Limited issued by state owned New India Assurance for providing financial protection against War Perils while navigating through High Risk War Zones.

A Marine Cargo War Policy was presented to M/s. Vedanta Sterlite copper Ltd., covering its import of cable wires. A policy was also issued to Balrampur Chini Mills.

The DFS held an event to launch the domestic insurance pool, ‘Bharat Maritime Insurance Pool’ (BMIP) of $1.5 billion today, with a sovereign guarantee of $1.4 billion/₹12,980 crores to facilitate continuous maritime insurance coverages.

The pool covers all maritime risks such as Hull and Machinery, Cargo, P&I and War risk for Indian flagged or controlled vessels or vessels destined to or starting from India, in the context of the current Middle East tensions.

For claims arising upto $100 million, the pool will service the claim using its own capacity and for claims beyond $100 million, the sovereign guarantee will be invoked to service claims as a contingent backstop of last resort, after complete exhaustion of the pool’s accumulated reserves, member contributions and reinsurance arrangements.

Policies will be issued by domestic insurers that are Pool members, using the combined underwriting capacity of the Pool. These risks would then be reinsured by all Pool members, in proportion to their capacity commitment in the Pool.

Speaking at the launch event, Nagaraju said, “The Bharat Maritime Insurance Pool will cover all Indian flag vessels, coastal vessels, or even vessels destined for India or starting from India to ensure that Indian trade continues to have access to stable and affordable insurance for vessels carrying cargo from any international origin to Indian coast, even transiting volatile maritime corridors.”

The secretary further added that it can cover up to $1.4 billion , which is almost about Rs 13,000 crore. “We have taken the sovereign guarantee, and sovereign guarantee has been provided.”

Nagaraju said the initiative assumes significance amid growing geopolitical uncertainties and disruptions in global trade flows, particularly in maritime routes linked to energy imports and strategic cargo movement.

He noted that rising geopolitical tensions have sharply increased maritime insurance premiums, in some cases by as much as 100 per cent, affecting the movement of goods and vessels across critical international trade corridors.

The world as such is passing through uncertain times. One of the most impacted is trade flows. Trade flows do not happen only because of surplus or deficit. It also happens through containers, vessels, and security of repayment. Because of the current situation, premiums have gone up,” he said.

Highlighting India’s dependence on foreign insurers for maritime protection, Nagaraju said India remains the only major economy without a domestic Protection and Indemnity (P&I) Club.

“We depend mostly on the Middle East and other countries for our energy supplies, and it is not going to go away. Nobody is going to tell that our dependence on the Middle East will disappear in the next 10-15 years. We are going to require both reinsurance as well as P&I,” he said.

He added that the government has simultaneously created a roadmap for establishing and strengthening a domestic P&I Club to support Indian shipping lines and improve long-term maritime insurance capabilities.

A Governing Body has been constituted to oversee the functioning of the pool, including approvals regarding the invocation of the sovereign guarantee.

In addition, an Underwriting Committee (UC) responsible for ensuring prudent, consistent and technically sound underwriting of risks ceded to the pool has been formed. GIC Re is the pool administrator, which will submit the returns, details of re-insurance arrangement, and statements on performance of the pool.

The BNP will mitigate risks like restrictions or withdrawal of insurance cover in high-risk areas or sanctioned environments that can disrupt shipping operations and critical trade flows. Due to sanctions, foreign re/insurers can withdraw support for any insurance policy that covers cargo or vessel carrying cargo, from the sanctioned country.

Another area of concern is dependence of Indian vessels on International Group (IG) Protection and Indemnity (P&I) Club for P&I insurance. P&I insurance covers third-party liabilities like Oil pollution liability, Wreck removal, Cargo damage, Crew injury and repatriation, Collision liabilities.

The event was attended by senior officers from Department of Financial Services including special secretary Sanjay Lohiya, additional secretary Debasish Prusty, and CMD, GIC Re Hitesh Joshi, CMD, New India Assurance Company, Girija Subramanian, Secretary General, General Insurance Council Kasturi Sengupta and Director, Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Opesh Kumar Sharma.

The pool with sovereign guarantee will be able to provide sufficient underwriting capacity to cover the risks adequately and enable the country to increase sovereign control over maritime trade.

This would strengthen India’s maritime risk protection framework and support secure global trade operations in future, promoting India’s financial sovereignty.