Recognizing the necessity for a leading maritime nation such as India to have it's own classification society, the Government of India constituted a Steering Committee (known as Mudaliar Committee) whose recommendation for formation of an Indian classification society was accepted by the Government of India in 1974. Thus, in March 1975, Indian Register of Shipping was established as a public limited company under section 25 of the Indian Companies Act, 1956 with no share capital, no shareholders and distributing no dividends and seeking to promote the objects for which it was established which include:

• To provide faithful and accurate classification and record of mercantile shipping classed with IRS
• To establish standards and formulate rules for the construction and maintenance of ships, amphibious installation, marine equipment and industrial and general engineering equipment.
• To approve designs of, to survey and to issue reports on land installations, machinery, materials and apparatus of all kinds.
• To aid and develop the merchant marine industry of India
• To evaluate, assess and certify quality management systems in industries and to carry out pre-registration audits and certification audits for quality management systems.

Within a short span of its inception, IRS has already established itself as an international ship classification society and is in many ways on par with leading ship classification societies of the world, which have been in existence for over a hundred years. It's highly skilled and motivated technical personnel, which continue to be it's main source of strength, coupled with it's enviable safety record, allows IRS to enjoy the confidence of the entire marine fraternity - ship owners, ship builders, underwriters, government, industries allied to shipping. It's reputation for efficient, prompt service of the highest order based on it's technical, financial and moral integrity has in fact made common the acronym "IRS" by which the organisation is recognized today - Integrity, Reliability & Safety