SAGARMALA: STRENGTHENING MARITIME CAPABILITY

With a long coastline of 7,517 km, along strategic locations for international trade, India was yet to leverage the potential of its navigable waterways. India's maritime infrastructure needed to be revitalised to strengthen linkages between maritime capability and the country's growing economy. Keeping these factors in mind, India's Prime Minister envisioned world class ports to position our coasts at the centre of global economic growth.

Sagarmala, a National Perspective Plan prepared by the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, and approved by the Union Cabinet in March 2015, was released on April 14, 2016. It was launched with an aim to reduce logistics costs nationwide for cargo handling and evacuation through seaports.

This programme was launched to overcome challenges by focusing on three pillars of development, namely:

(i)  Supporting and enabling Port-led Development through appropriate policy & institutional interventions, and providing for an institutional framework for ensuring inter-agency & ministries/departments/states' collaboration,

(ii) Port Infrastructure Enhancement, including modernization and setting up of new ports, and

(iii) Efficient evacuation to and from the hinterland.

Apart from the focus sub-sectors, the programme also emphasises on a wide spectrum of various other maritime areas in the country such as Cruise and Coastal Tourism, Roll On - Roll Off (RoRo) facilities for passenger and cargo transportation, Building Fishing Harbors, Coastal Berths Development, and Building Technological Centers.

To accomplish the ambitious objectives, more than 500 projects worth Rs 3.6 lakh crore (USD 48 billion), were identified in the Sagarmala programme, out of which 158 have already been completed and another 181 are under implementation. After receiving the cabinet's approval, Sagarmala Development Company (SDCL) was incorporated to provide funding support to project related Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) and residual projects under the programme. Additionally, SDCL has identified a few SPVs for the purpose of equity investment in line with the programme's objectives.

Primary focus of the programme is to -

i) Enhance the ports' traffic handling capacity from the current 2,400 MTPA to over 3,000 MTPA by 2024.

ii) Develop greenfield ports.

iii) Improve rail and road connectivity to-and-from ports.

iv) Increase the use of inland waterways to transport cargo - reach 120 MTPA by 2030 from the current 75 MTPA, and

v) Provide future maritime personnel with globally competitive skill & development training.

Complementing Sagarmala, Maritime India Vision (MIV) 2030 was launched by  the Hon'ble Prime Minister in March 2021. It has been drafted after significant consultation with over 350 public and private stakeholders comprising ports, shipyards, inland waterways, trade bodies and associations, national and international industry, and legal experts. MIV 2030 serves as a blueprint to achieve accelerated and coordinated development, comprehensively identifying over 150 initiatives across 10 themes covering all facets of India's diverse maritime sector. The key themes include developing best-in-class Port infrastructure, enhancing Logistics Efficiency through Technology and Innovation, increasing Cargo and Passenger Movement through Inland Waterways, and leading globally in the Safe, Sustainable & Green Maritime Sector.

An extremely significant impact of Sagarmala Programme and Maritime India Vision 2030 has been the unlocking of annual revenue for Indian ports, as well as generation of jobs. It is estimated that an additional annual revenue of Rs 20,000 crore (USD 2.7 billion) from ports and 2 million jobs (both direct and indirect) in India's maritime industry will be generated by 2030. Since the implementation of the programme in 2016, average vessel Turn Around Time (TRT) of ships at major ports has reduced from 81 hours to 61 hours in 2020 and Average Ship Berth day Output (gross tonnage) has increased from 13,156 MT to 16,433 MT during the same period.

Conclusively, the plethora of initiatives taken and planned under the Sagarmala Programme and the Maritime India Vision 2030 will help in increasing and unlocking capacity across all ports and in boosting the potential of all maritime authorities and their respective operations. Such measures will result in much lower turn transport times for cargo and passengers along with massive reductions in logistics costs for the end businesses and consumers.

Himani Goel

Sr. Investment Specialist (Assistant VP), Ports & Shipping/Financial Investors Initiative, Invest India

Ayush Saxena

Investment Specialist (Assistant Manager), Ports & Shipping/Financial Investors Initiative, Invest India

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