India has moved from talking about ships and ports to attacking the metal boxes that keep trade flowing. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s budget pledge contains a ₹10,000 crore ($1.2bn), five‑year scheme to build a domestic container manufacturing ecosystem.

India’s current annual container output is roughly 30,000 units; China’s capacity runs to in excess of 5m. 

Officials hope domestic production will not just plug local needs for the nascent Bharat Container Shipping Line but also, over time, create an exportable product.

Vietnam, Bangladesh and other low‑cost Asian players are already angling to chisel market share from China by offering competitive pricing and proximity to key shipping hubs. 

Chinese factories now account for more than 95% of the world’s dry cargo containers and nearly 100% of the world’s refrigerated containers.