Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: As many as 27 collaborative agreements have been signed with an investment potential of over Rs 66,000 crore in India’s maritime and shipbuilding sector between public and private sector stakeholders, state governments, and international partners, according to an official statement issued on September 29. With their collective industrial, socio-economic, and strategic impact, these projects are set to re-position India as a leading global maritime and shipbuilding hub in the next decade, advancing the national resolve of an Atmanirbhar Bharat, the statement said.
The MoUs were signed on September 18 at Bhavnagar on the eve of the “Samudra Se Samriddhi – Transforming India’s Maritime Sector” event addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in which a number of projects pertaining to the maritime sector were launched. Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal was present at the signing ceremonies.
A landmark MoU for an investment of around Rs 21,500 crore was signed between the Paradip Port Authority, the Visakhapatnam Port Authority, the Sagarmala Finance Corporation Limited, and the Odisha government for the development of a new port at Bahuda, with a capacity of 150 million tonnes per annum proposed to be developed on more than 6,700 acres of coastal salt land that have been designated for maritime use. This project is expected to act as an anchor for port-led industrialisation, logistics parks, and manufacturing clusters across Odisha and northern Andhra Pradesh. It is expected to provide direct and indirect employment opportunities to nearly 25,000 people while catalysing new waves of industrial and infrastructure development in eastern India.
