PORTS AND SHIPPING, largely overlooked in NDA-I and NDA-II since 2014, have emerged as a key focus in Modi 3.0. On September 24, the Union Cabinet approved a package worth ₹69,725 crore to reinvigorate and revitalise the shipbuilding and maritime ecosystem. To create a robust infrastructure, the package has adopted a four-pronged approach of strengthening domestic capacity in shipbuilding, improving long-term financing, developing greenfield and brownfield shipyard, and enhancing technical capabilities, skilling, and reforms (including legal, taxation, and policy reforms). 

So far under Modi 3.0, the Cabinet has approved infrastructure projects worth around ₹10 lakh crore, of which ports and shipping account for nearly 15% with the under-construction port at Vadhavan in Maharashtra’s Palghar district. The ₹76,220-crore project, approved in June last year, is being constructed by Vadhavan Port Project Ltd, an SPV by Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority and Maharashtra Maritime Board.

That adds up to more than ₹1,45,945 crore for the ports and shipping sector, clear evidence of the Centre’s policy thrust. The shipping ministry plans to invest ₹3.5 lakh crore more in port capacity augmentation, shipping, inland waterways, and job creation in the maritime sector by 2030.

The ministry’s Amrit Kaal Vision 2047 envisages world-class ports, inland water transport projects, coastal shipping, and a sustainable maritime sector. It looks to tap into the maritime tourism opportunity, too, by increasing annual cruise passenger traffic from the current nearly 468,000 to more than 1.5 million by 2030. Here’s where the maritime mission assumes significance. 

“A mega shipbuilding reform worth ₹70,000 crore has been approved by the government. Shipping and maritime are strategic sectors for India, and they will be key contributors towards the developed economy goals. The Union Cabinet has launched a 10-year programme for the growth of the shipbuilding sector,” railway, information & broadcasting, and information technology minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had said.

Terming shipbuilding the “mother of heavy engineering”, he said, “Shipbuilding has a major multiplier impact. The employment multiplier of shipbuilding is 6.4, and the investment multiplier is 2.” Shipyards will be eligible for capacity-based financial assistance to build vessels under the mission. In addition, a Maritime Development Fund has been approved with a corpus of ₹25,000 crore to provide long-term financing. There is also the Shipbuilding Development Scheme, with an outlay of ₹19,989 crore, to expand domestic shipbuilding capacity to 4.5 million gross tonnage annually.

Safe to say, the ball has been set in motion for a robust maritime future.