Detailed Reports for the Sagarmala Programme have been readied. The Ministry of Shipping released five reports running into 958 pages on August 11, 2016. Stakeholders are to respond by August 31, 2016. Since this becomes gigantic reading, we have compressed the major findings of all these reports into 14 pages, complete with comprehensive cartographic components and presented these in a customized and easy to read format. It is a magazine resource, to which we believe our readers will turn, again and again for reference.
Primarily, Sagarmala is a programme of port led development, port connectivity through rails and roads, modernization, capacity augmentation, efficient and speedy evacuation of goods both for inland and overland trade and production. Detailed implementation profiles have been created for movement of Exim containers to the hinterland and likewise for the ports.
But what makes Sagarmala a programme of extraordinary proportions in all dimensions is its scale, rollout design, impact on trade and economic activity, both domestic and foreign, development of coastal communities in 13 states & union territories and industry specific linkages. These linkages are to be seen in its plans for maritime clusters in areas of steel capability to develop the shipbuilding industry, similarly steel centres and corridors are to be connected to ports for iron ore imports. Coastal Cement Clinkerisation Clusters are to be developed with grinding units near demand centres and a roadmap with production target till 2025 has been prepared to leverage the coastal opportunity for the cement industry. The leather industry, particularly the exports from this industry, is a major focus of the Sagarmala programme. So are the cotton production centres that will be linked to port based apparel clusters. Key clusters are also to be designed for thermal coal, produced locally as also imports. And potential domestic circuits for India will lift tourism.
397 projects have been identified, including the existing projects, requiring an investment of Rs 450,000. Out of 397 projects, 111 projects are under implementation and 83 projects will be taken up only after FY20. The remaining 203 projects are worth Rs 286,000 crore. The project could form around 2 per cent of the country’s GDP from coastal states and districts and create societal impact in the form of 10 million jobs, coastal community skill building, etc.
The Sagarmala Programme aims to change the way logistics evacuation happens in India, make Indian manufacturers globally competitive, boost overall economic development through ports and empower coastal communities. India’s coastline covers 7,500 km. And many have felt that it is grossly unutilized. This will change with the Sagarmala Programme for it is grand, and once accomplished, will be an infrastructure marvel with deep and huge beneficial impacts for our country.
