'We Are Working To Make India A Top Shipbuilding Nation Of The World': PM Modi Sets Ambitious Goal For Maritime Sector

India is poised to become one of the top five shipbuilding nations in the coming decade, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced yesterday (17 October).

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the three-day (17-19 October) Global Maritime Summit in Mumbai, Prime Minister Modi emphasised on the importance of the maritime sector in India.

The Prime Minister said, “In this changing world order, the whole world is looking towards India with new aspirations. The Indian economy is gathering more strength while the world is in the grip of an economic crisis. The day is not far when India will be one of the top three economic powers of the world.”

Stressing on the significance of the maritime economy Prime Minister Modi stated, “History bears witness that whenever India’s maritime capability has been strong, the country and the world have benefited greatly from it. Taking this as our guiding principle, we have been working in a planned manner for the last nine years to strengthen this sector.”

The recently announced India-Middle East-Europe Corridor (IMEEC) at the G20 summit at Delhi, is expected to have a huge effect on the maritime sector.

"During the G20 Summit, a historic consensus was reached on forming an India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor. This is a huge step at India’s initiative, which could potentially rejuvenate the maritime industry across the world in the 21st century,” Prime Minister Modi said.

The Prime Minister, highlighting the government's focus on the shipbuilding sector stated, "INS Vikrant is proof of India’s ship-building capacity. India is going to become one of the top five ship-building nations in the coming decade."

He added, "Our Mantra is ‘Make in India, Make for the World’. The government is working to bring together all stakeholders in the sector through maritime clusters. Ship-building and repair centers will be developed at many places."

Laying emphasis on the increase in capacity of the major ports in India, the Prime Minister said, "The government is bringing about revolutionary changes in every sector, and a lot has been done to strengthen the maritime sector."

"In the last decade, the capacity of major ports has doubled, and turnaround time for big vessels has come down to less than 24 hours as compared to 42 hours in 2014," he added.

The Prime Minister also laid the foundation stone for projects worth over Rs 23,000 crore. He also unveiled the ‘Amrit Kaal Vision 2047’ for the Indian maritime blue economy.