Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal chaired a mid-term review meeting on Friday in Delhi, where top officials of the Ministry participated in the deliberations.
The meeting was held to determine a comprehensive approach towards swift and smooth execution of the ‘PM Maritime Amritkaal Vision’ with the ultimate goal of making India the global maritime leader by 2047.
As per the Ministry of Ports, Shiping and Waterways, major programmes of the Ministry including its flagship programme Sagarmala as well as other prominent programmes, were reviewed.
The meeting also inquired about the progress of 162 projects with an investment outlay of Rs 1 trillion.
The Union Minister of State for Ports, Shipping & Waterways and Tourism, Shripad Naik as well as the Union Minister of State for Ports, Shipping & Waterways, Shantanu Thakur also participated in the deliberations along with the top officials of major Indian ports, various PSUs, as well as other senior officials of the ministry.
Speaking on the occasion, the Union Minister, Sarbananda Sonowal said, “India is standing at an extremely important stage towards becoming a global leader of the maritime sector. Under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Maritime Amritkaal Vision 2047 was launched exactly a month ago at the Global Maritime India Summit (GMIS) in Mumbai.”
“The document is a manifestation of Modi’s vision towards enabling India’s ports, empowering the shipping sector and rejuvenating waterways with an ultimate goal of turning India into a global power in the maritime sector,” he said.
“We are working to make our ports break into the top 25 ports of the world. We must stick to the ‘Panch Karma Sankalp’ while aiming to execute the letter and spirit of the Vision Document towards realising the goal of India becoming the global leader in the maritime sector by 2047,” Sonowal added.
The meeting opens up an opportunity to review the holistic progress made under the ‘Panch Karma Sankalp’ announced during the ‘Chintan Shivir’ in May 2023. It is to be noted that during Chintan Shivir 2023, Sonowal promised to review mid-year targets and he acted upon his promise.
Adding further, Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said, “After a tremendous outcome at the GMIS, 2023, where we successfully closed 360 MoUs with an investment of Rs 10 trillion, it is now time for their speedy and smooth execution.”
“We are setting up a monthly review mechanism to keep a tab on the progress of all these initiatives as well as timely review of Maritime India Vision 2030 as well as Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision 2047. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we are focussing on the scale and speed of achievements in the Sagarmala programme,” he said.
Deendayal Port Authority is setting up Green Hydrogen Hubs in which port has received prominent responses from 13 prospective developers against Global Expression of Interest.
A total of more than 7 MMTPA capacity green Ammonia production has been offered by prospective Developers. The offered development will cater to the domestic and international demand of 1.4 MMTPA of Green Hydrogen.
The Global Maritime India Summit, 2023, held in October, at Mumbai emerged as one of the world’s largest maritime summits, attracting an investment of Rs10 lakh crores. This significant achievement aligns with the goals of the ‘Amrit Kaal Vision 2047,’ a vision document launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the event. Building upon the legacy of its predecessors, the third edition of GMIS unveiled broader prospects for domestic and international maritime stakeholders.
During this grand event a total of 360 MoUs were signed with a total value of Rs 8.35 Lac Crores and along with the Investible projects of Rs 1.68 Lac Crores, the total monetary value was more than Rs 10 Lac Crores.
The themes of the various MoUs are Green Initiatives worth Rs. 3.8 Lac Crores; Port Modernization worth Rs 1.5 Lac Crores; Port Led Industrialization worth Rs 0.75 Lac Crores; Trade and Business worth Rs 0.70 Lac Crores; Knowledge exchange and Innovation, Ship Repair worth Rs 1.6 Lac Cr.
The discussion on major port projects, including Vadhavan Port, Multi Cargo Berths at Tuna Tekra, International and Domestic Cruise Terminals, and the Development of Outer Harbour at VoCPA, marked the beginning of the meeting.
Sonowal urged ports to make optimal efforts to secure a spot in the top 25 world Port Ranking, emphasizing that remaining competitive requires improving positions in the annual “Global Ranking” published by the World Bank.
All ports and agencies under the Ministry were directed to showcase their “Green Initiatives” on International and relevant forums.
In the financial year 2022-23, a total of 177 projects were completed at Major Ports, while currently, 162 projects are at various stages of implementation with an Investment exceeding Rs 1 Lakh Crore.
Currently, 800 plus projects are worth more than Rs 5.74 lakh crore are being monitored under the Sagarmala Programme, for Implementation by 2035.
Out of these, 237 projects worth Rs 1.22 Lakh crore have already completed 262 projects worth Rs 2.44 lakh Cr. are under implementation and 310 projects worth Rs 2.08 Lakh Cr. are under various stages of development.
Further, under the holistic development of coastal districts, a total of 567 projects with an estimated cost of around Rs. 58,000 Cr have been identified. Under the Sagarmala Programme, 94 Projects worth Rs. 31,597 Cr. have been completed resulting in capacity addition of more than 230 MTPA
ANI Photo | India aims to lead global maritime sector with success of PM Maritime Amritkaal Vision: Sarbananda Sonowal
