PANAJI
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said steps are being taken to introduce urban water transport systems in key states and cities such as Goa, Gujarat, Kochi and Mumbai.
The prime minister was speaking after inaugurating the ‘Maritime India Summit 2021’ through video conferencing.
Denmark’s Minister of Transport Benny Englebrecht, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, the chief ministers of Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh, union ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Mansukh Mandaviya attended the ceremony via video conferencing.
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. Through the focus areas of upgradation of infrastructure, boosting reform journey, India aims to strengthen the vision of Aatamnirbhar Bharat,” he said.
He noted that instead of a piecemeal approach, focus is on the entire sector as one. He informed that capacity of major ports have increased from 870 million tonnes in 2014 to 1,550 million tonnes now.
“Indian ports now have measures such as Direct port Delivery, Direct Port Entry and an upgraded Port Community System (PCS) for easy data flow. Our ports have reduced waiting time for inbound and outbound cargo.”
“Ours is a government that is investing in waterways in a way that was never seen before. Domestic waterways are found to be cost effective and environment friendly ways of transporting freight. We aim to operationalise 23 waterways by 2030,” said Modi.
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,” Modi informed.
The prime minister said the government of India is also focusing on the domestic ship building and ship repair market. To encourage domestic shipbuilding approval has been given to the Shipbuilding Financial Assistance Policy for Indian Shipyards.
Modi said 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 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.
The prime minister informed that the Ministry of Port Shipping and Waterways has created a list of 400 investable projects, which have an investment potential of Rs 2.25 lakh crores.
