Chennai, March 31 (IANS) IL&FS Ecosmart Ltd has signed an agreement with the Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB) to prepare a comprehensive master plan for the Alang ship-breaking yard in Gujarat coast, which will include an environmental management plan. The IL&FS-GMB initiative is expected to result in a development plan that will convert the Alang ship-breaking yard into a “commercially successful” ship recycling yard with “a new benchmark in environmental and social standards”, a release by IL&FS said here Monday.

Last September, the Supreme Court had stipulated stringent environment clearance for the breaking up of old and decommissioned ships at Alang.

The master plan will include the development of a disaster management plan and an environmental management plan to ensure compliance and monitoring of performance of ship-breakers in India.

The plan will also review various aspects including the regulatory framework for ship breaking all along India’s 7,000 km coast and identify infrastructure needs for Alang and introduce recycling to improve the economics of the yard.

The master plan includes development of effluent treatment systems and hazardous waste management to transform Alang into a world-class ship recycling facility.

The plan will emphasise safety and training of workers including upgrading worker health and their housing needs, and also assess the size and growth of the global ship-breaking market and potential market share that Alang could capture.

It is also expected to improve Alang’s competitive advantage, both in terms of the cost of ship breaking and adherence to environmental and social best practices.

Alang will not only be compliant with international performance standards, but also be promoted as a “Green Recycling Facility” that uses higher end technologies and state-of-the-art infrastructure, IL&FS said.

A key outcome of this plan will be the formation of a special purpose vehicle to develop, maintain and operate the Alang ship-breaking yard on public private partnership basis.

There are over 50 ships at the Alang shipyard, awaiting breaking permission. At present, ships are allowed to anchor off Alang, without certification but for breaking up, environment clearance is needed.

IL&FS is a wholly owned subsidiary of Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Ltd.