Experts see huge potential for developing India’s Blue Economy

Mumbai Jan 22 (IANS) Shipping industry experts see immense scope for India emerging as a Blue Economy as the country occupies an important position in the global maritime industry with a coastline spanning 7517 kilometres that is home to 12 major ports and around 200 non-major ports handling around 1550 million tons of cargo per year. Besides, the country has 2 million square kilometres of rich and varied resources in its exclusive economic zones. 

“As much as 95 per cent of India's trade by volume and 68 per cent by value moves through the coastal routes highlighting the scope for the blue economy,” said Pandurang Raut, Deputy Director General of Shipping, in his address at ASSOCHAM’s conference on ‘Accelerating the Blue Economy Wave towards Viksit Bharat’.

Highlighting various initiatives towards enhancing the country’s blue economy, Raut said, “The Maritime Amritkal Vision 2046 released in 2023 is aimed at increasing the modernisation of the ports, enhancing the port shipping infrastructure, and harvesting the maritime energy. Under the Sagar Mala program, around 81 projects along the coast of India are being implemented with an investment of Rs. 11,752 crores.

Around 21,000 youths have already been trained under the coastal development program and 37 fishing harbour projects are being developed with an outlay of Rs. 6,540 crores. Under the National Coastal Mission, an outlay of Rs. 240 crores has been earmarked for the development of marine litter management practices, he said.

“The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways has formed 22 Viksit Bharat Sankalp (ViBhaS) cells and Neel Arth Vision Implementation Cells (NAVIC) to achieve the various visions that have been envisaged in the Maritime India Vision 2030 and Maritime Amritsar vision 2047” he added.

Addressing the conference, Le Quang Bien, Consul General, Consulate General of Vietnam in Mumbai said, “Blue economy has been recognised globally as a solution to the resource crisis and a sustainable foundation for future economic development. The Indo-Pacific region, plays a crucial strategic role in the global economy, being a vital route connecting many major markets all over the world. Vietnam is strategically located in an area with many of the fastest-growing economies in the world today, such as India, Japan, Korea, and ASEAN.

Vietnam and India have great potential for bilateral collaboration in the fields of technology transfer and human resource training to improve and enhance each other's capacities in research and application of advanced technologies in exploiting marine resources' sustainability, he said.

Strengthening marine cooperation including blue economies between our two countries will not only bring economic benefits, but also contribute to the stability, development, peace, and security of the region, he added.

On the importance of India having vast coastlines and its benefits, Shantanu Bhadkamkar, Chairman, of Maharashtra State Development Council (MSDC), Assocham, said, "Australia is dense on the east coast. There is hardly anything in the centre which shows that countries equally develop on coastlines… Oceans are important, and we have a huge coastline and huge exclusive economic zones which have to be developed for making India a $10 trillion economy.”

Speaking at the panel discussion on its new insurance product, Anita Sharma of The New India Assurance said, " With great efforts from CIBA and the government of India Department of Fisheries, we have come with our new product, which is modified and improved after keeping in mind all the suggestions given by the government of India. A key feature of the policy is that we are giving indemnity to the farmers for 80 per cent, and 20 per cent has to be borne by the farmers.”

--IANS

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