The 20th meeting of the Maritime Development Council, which began in Goa, will discuss key programmes initiated by the Narendra Modi government and take stock of the progress of various projects, including the flagship Sagarmala, Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said.
Initiatives like the ‘Maritime India Vision 2030’ and ‘Maritime Amrit Kal Vision 2047’ will be discussed with authorities from the coastal states and Union territories to find solutions and to set the future course of action in the sector, the Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways said.
“The achievements under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi will be discussed during the meeting. The maritime sector has grown significantly in the last 10 years. The standard of our port operations is increasing, resulting in growth in cargo handling capacity. Our vision is to make India one of the leading maritime nations,” Sonowal said.
The World Bank, in its Logistics Performance Index report, has said India, in the last ten years, has grown and created benchmarks in all the sectors, the Union minister added.
Speaking about cruise tourism initiatives in Goa, he said latest facilities are being developed to enhance the capacity of receiving domestic and international cruise passengers.
“We have six international cruise terminals in Mumbai, Mormugao, New Mangalore, Kochi, Chennai, Vishakhapatnam. We plan to develop such facilities in Kolkata, Porbandar (Gujarat), Ganpatipule (Maharashtra), Somnath (Gujarat) and Konark (Odisha). We want to develop an ecosystem in which global tourists feel at home while visiting India,” he informed.
“Under the Sagarmala programme, the ministry has identified 805 projects worth Rs 5.6 lakh crore in consultation with stakeholders. Out of these, 250 have been completed at a cost of Rs 1.6 lakh crore. Some 200-odd projects are under implementation, while 160 projects are at different stages of development. All this has been possible due to active participation of state governments and private players,” Sonowal said.
The Sagarmala program envisages initiatives like port mechanisation, modernisation, digitalisation, port led industrialisation, port led connectivity enhancement, coastal community development etc, he added.
“By 2047, with an expense of Rs 80 lakh crore, we are going to make India one of the top ten maritime nations,” he asserted.
