India to Showcase 200 Projects in Maritime India Summit

 

The 200 projects comprise 20 projects per port and together have a US $ 6 billion investment potential. The projects will range from ports- and ship-led development to projects pertaining to connectivity and logistics. Smart cities have been conceptualised at Kandla and Paradeep. 

 

The ministry’s deputy secretary, Abhishek Chandra, said: "For ship building, South Korea is our proposed partner country since they have a high degree of expertise in this field. We have commissioned 25 new projects in hinterland connectivity. One new waterways will save the country up to Rs 20,000 crore in transportation cost alone – that is an added Rs 20,000 crore as revenue for India."

 

The summit would be held in Mumbai from April 14-16. Republic of Korea has consented to be the partner country for MIS-2016 and would participate with delegations of maritime companies and government officials.

 

The government has reached out to at least 30 countries to explore opportunities at the summit, Chandra said.

 

The ministry will also showcase flagship port led development under “Sagarmala”. The major developmental opportunities identified under the programme include setting up seven to eight coastal economic zones across the maritime states.

 

He said the summit would highlight projects from the country's ports and offer incentives to domestic and international companies to invest in the domestic maritime sector. 

 

Despite India being essentially a costal country, in the past 60 years little focus has been given to developing the investment opportunities on the coasts and in its maritime activities.