Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday unveiled ‘Amrit Kaal Vision 2047’, the long-term blueprint for the Indian maritime blue economy while inaugurating Global Maritime India Summit 2023 in Mumbai through video-conference.
The blueprint outlines strategic initiatives aimed at enhancing port facilities, promoting sustainable practices, and facilitating international collaboration.
Mr. Modi said Next Generation Mega Port, International Container Trans-shipment port, island development, inland waterways, and multi-modal hubs would be undertaken under Vision 2047 leading to a reduction in cost of doing business and environmental degradation.
Underscoring the role of sea routes in global trade, he emphasised the need for a reliable global supply chain in the post-Corona world.
He reiterated that investors have a great opportunity to become part of this campaign and join India.
In the last decade, the capacity of major ports in India has doubled, and the turnaround time for big vessels has come down to less than 24 hours as compared to 42 hours.
On the occasion Mr. Modi laid the foundation stone for projects worth more than ₹23,000 crore that are aligned with the growth of India’s maritime blue economy.
He said in the changing world order, the world was looking towards India with new aspirations.
“Government’s vision of ‘Ports for Prosperity and Ports for Progress’ was bringing transformational changes at the ground level,” he said as he noted that the mantra of ‘Ports for Productivity’ was also being encouraged.
Mr. Modi underlined that Coastal Shipping Modes were also being modernised in India and said the coastal cargo traffic had doubled in the last decade, thereby providing a cost-effective logistic option for the people.
Stating that India was going to become one of the top five ship-building nations in the coming decade, he said ship-building and repair centres would be developed in many places.
He said efforts were underway to make the major ports in India carbon-neutral via a net-zero strategy for the sector. “We are moving towards a future where the Blue Economy will be the medium to create a Green Planet”.
Mr. Modi said the upcoming International Cruise terminal in Mumbai and modern cruise terminals in Visakhapatnam and Chennai would help India become a global cruise hub.
The three-day summit will discuss and deliberate key issues of the maritime sector including ports of the future; decarbonisation; coastal shipping and inland water transportation; shipbuilding; repair and recycling; finance, insurance & arbitration; maritime clusters; innovation & technology; maritime safety and security; and maritime tourism, among others.
