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Sagarmala Programme

More than 150 projects have been identified as part of the National Perspective Plan (NPP) under the ambitious Sagarmala Programme . The projects will mobilize more than Rs. 4 lac crore of investment and enable creation of 1 crore new jobs, including 40 lac direct jobs, in the next 10 years. These projects have been identified across the areas of Port Modernization & New Port Development, Port Connectivity Enhancement, Port-led Industrial Development and Coastal Community Development.

The Sagarmala Programme of the Government of India aims to promote port-led development in the country by harnessing India’s 7,500 km long coastline, 14,500 km of potentially navigable waterways and strategic location on key international maritime trade routes. A National Perspective Plan has been developed under this programme for the comprehensive development of India’s coastline and maritime sector. The draft report in this regard was submitted in February, 2016 and these findings were presented to the Minister of Shipping, Road Transport & Highways:

To meet the future growth in cargo volumes, 50 projects have been identified to increase the port capacity from 1400 MMTPA to 2500 MMTPA by 2025, at an investment of Rs. 1 lac crore. These projects include capacity augmentation at existing ports and development of 5-6 new ports, including a trans-shipment hub. In addition, 104 initiatives have been identified to improve major port efficiency.

To enhance the port-connectivity to the country’s production and consumption centres, 65 projects have been proposed at an investment of more than Rs. 2 lac crores. This includes10,000 km of last mile port-connectivity infrastructure, 12 new freight expressways, heavy haul rail corridor to transport coal, new pipelines for transporting crude and petroleum products, development of prioritized inland waterways and new multi-modal logistics hubs.

For promoting port-led industrial development, 14 Coastal Economic Zones covering all the Maritime States and Union Territories have been proposed. These include 13 port-based discrete manufacturing clusters, in the labour intensive sectors of electronics, apparel, leather products, furniture and food-processing, and 14 large coastal clusters for basic input industries such as power, refineries & petrochemicals, steel and downstream industries (Shipbuilding, Automotive), and cement. Setting up infrastructure for these clusters will require an investment of Rs. 1 lac crore and will attract an additional Rs. 7 lac crore of industrial investment. These clusters are expected to boost India’s merchandize exports by USD 110 Billion by 2025.

As part of Sagarmala’s objective of coastal community development, skilling, fishermen and other community development projects have also been identified. Setting up of a Community Development Fund is envisaged to enable these coastal communities related projects and initiatives. These projects will be showcased in the maiden Maritime India Summit 2016, for attracting potential investors and their implementation will be taken up starting FY 16-17. The Ministry of Shipping is also conducting stakeholder consultations with the Maritime States and Central Ministries to finalize the NPP by March 2016.

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