India Targets $60 Bln Maritime Investments

 

The maiden Maritime India Summit 2016 in Mumbai has resulted in investment commitments of nearly Rs 83,000 crore ($13 billion) in the shipping, ports and allied sectors, Union Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari said.

 

The  Summit, aims to promote port-led development by harnessing the 7,500-km coastline, 111 waterways of 14,500 km. At least 150 projects have been identified — infrastructure development (Rs 4 lakh crore), industrial investment (power, steel, manufacturing, Rs 8 lakh crore), augmentation of coastal shipping and inland waterways to cut logistic cost (Rs 35,000-40,000 crore).

 

He singled out the Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar's announcement of entering into a pact with Shipping Ministry as one of the biggest achievements of the summit. The contract will ensure an order flow of nearly Rs 75,000 crore to the troubled private sector shipyards.

 

The government aims to increase coastal shipping to 400 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) by 2025 from 80 mtpa now. Efforts are being made to advance it to 2020. The Sagarmala project expects to create 10 million jobs. It has been conceived to address the challenges and capture all the opportunities of port-led development.

 

The Sagarmala project will bring down the cost of logistics to 10% from the present 18%, thus making Indian goods competitive, Gadkari said.