National Maritime Heritage Complex To Come Up In Gujarat’s Lothal

In its bid to recreate an ancient city, a museum dedicated to the country's 5,000-year maritime history will be set up at Lothal in Gujarat by the Culture Ministry in collaboration with the Shipping and Ports Ministry.

National Maritime Heritage Complex (NMHC) at Lothal is to be developed as a first of its kind tourist destination in the country to showcase India’s rich and diverse maritime history.

Apart from that, the evolution of India’s maritime heritage during various eras would be exhibited in galleries. NMHC would have a pavilion to showcase the artifacts/maritime heritage of each coastal state and union territory.

Giving the final shape to the proposal, the Union Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways and Ministry of Culture have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for cooperation in development of NMHC at Lothal.

Culture Minister Prahlad Singh Patel and Ports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya were present during the MoU signing ceremony.

Mandaviya said that NMHC is to be developed as a first of its kind in the country dedicated to the legacy of maritime heritage of India.

He said that the signing of MoU and cooperation with the Ministry of Culture would facilitate the exhibition of both the robust maritime history and vibrant coastal tradition of our country in one place and would uplift the image of India’s maritime heritage in the international forum.

Patel said that we need to put this maritime treasure together at one place. “This MoU and the museum will play a big role in highlighting the cultural heritage of the country. We are able to bring out and convey the greatness of our cultural heritage to the world through museums,” he added.

NMHC, a world-class facility is to be developed in the vicinity of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) site of Lothal, located about 80 km away from Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

NMHC would be developed as an international tourist destination, where the maritime heritage of India from ancient to modern times would be showcased and an edutainment approach using the latest technology would be adopted to spread awareness about India’s maritime heritage.

For developing the project, the land transfer formalities have been completed and all land related clearances including environment clearance are in place.

NMHC would be developed in an area of about 400 acres with various unique structures such as national maritime heritage museum, light house museum, heritage theme park, museum themed hotels and maritime themed eco-resorts, maritime institute, etc, which would be developed in a phased manner.

Various theme parks would be developed at NMHC such as maritime and naval theme park, monuments park, climate change theme park, adventure and amusement theme park through public-private partnership which would provide a complete heritage experience to visitors.