The Samikhsya Bureau
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated ‘Maritime India Summit 2021’ through video conferencing here today.
Minister of Transport of Denmark Mr Benny Englebrecht, Chief Ministers of Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh, Union Ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Mansukh Mandaviya were present on the occasion.
Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister invited the world to come to India and be a part of India’s growth trajectory. India is very serious about growing in the maritime sector and emerging as a leading Blue Economy of the world, he stated.
He informed that capacity of major ports have increased from 870 million tonnes in 2014 to 1550 million tonnes now.
“Our ports have reduced waiting time for inbound and outbound cargo”, he said and added that mega ports with world class infrastructure are being developed in Vadhavan, Paradip and Kandla.
He further asserted that domestic waterways are found to be cost effective and environment friendly ways of transporting freight.” We aim to operationalise 23 waterways by 2030,” he revealed.
He also pointed out that India has as many as 189 lighthouses across its vast coastline. “We have drawn up a programme for developing tourism in the land adjacent to 78 lighthouses. The key objective of this initiative is to enhance development of the existing lighthouses and its surrounding areas into unique maritime tourism landmarks”, he explained.
The Prime Minister informed that the Ministry of Port Shipping and Waterways has created a list of 400 investable projects. These projects have an investment potential of $ 31 billion or Rs 2.25 lakh crores.
The Prime Minister said that the Government has initiated holistic development of island infrastructure and ecosystem. He added that the Government is keen to promote the use of renewable energy in the maritime sector. He said the Government is in the process of installing solar and wind-based power systems at all the major ports across the country and aims to increase usage of renewable energy to more than 60% of total energy by 2030 in three phases across Indian ports.
