Sagarmala to create one crore jobs under 150 projects, mobilise Rs 4 lakh cr

New Delhi: Government on Tuesday said it has identified over 150 projects under its ambitious ‘Sagarmala’ initiative that will mobilise more than Rs 4 lakh crore investment and create one crore new jobs. “More than 150 projects have been identified as part of the National Perspective Plan (NPP) under the ambitious Sagarmala programme. The projects will mobilise more than Rs 4 lakh crore of investment and enable creation of 1 crore new jobs, including 40 lakh direct jobs, in the next 10 years,” Ministry of Shipping said in a statement. [caption id=“attachment_2651068” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Reuters[/caption] These projects have been identified across the areas of port modernisation and new port development, port connectivity enhancement, port-led industrial development and coastal community development, it said. The Centre’s Sagarmala programme aims to promote port-led development in the country by harnessing India’s 7,500-km long coastline, 14,500-km of potentially navigable waterways and strategic location on key international maritime trade routes. The NPP has been developed under this programme for the comprehensive development of country’s coastline and maritime sector. The draft report submitted to Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari in February 2016, had mentioned that to meet the future growth in cargo volumes, 50 projects have been identified to increase the port capacity from 1,400 million tonne per annum (MTPA) to 2,500 MTPA by 2025, at an investment of Rs 1 lakh crore. “These projects include capacity augmentation at existing ports and development of 5-6 new ports, including a trans-shipment hub. In addition, 104 initiatives have been identified to improve major port efficiency,” the statement said. The report mentioned that to enhance the port connectivity to the country’s production and consumption centres, 65 projects have been proposed at an investment of more than Rs 2 lakh crore. “This includes 10,000 km of last mile port-connectivity infrastructure, 12 new freight expressways, heavy haul rail corridor to transport coal, new pipelines for transporting crude and petroleum products, development of prioritized inland waterways and new multi-modal logistics hubs,” it said. The statement further said that for promoting port-led industrial development, 14 Coastal Economic Zones covering all the maritime states and Union Territories have been proposed. “These include 13 port-based discrete manufacturing clusters, in the labour intensive sectors of electronics, apparel, leather products, furniture and food-processing, and 14 large coastal clusters for basic input industries such as power, refineries and petrochemicals, steel and downstream industries (shipbuilding, automotive), and cement,” it said. Setting up infrastructure for these clusters will require an investment of Rs 1 lakh crore and will attract an additional Rs 7 lakh crore of industrial investment. These clusters are expected to boost India’s merchandise exports by USD 110 Billion by 2025, it said. The statement said as part of Sagarmala’s objective of coastal community development, skilling, fishermen and other community development projects have also been identified. Setting up of a Community Development Fund (CDF) is envisaged to enable these coastal communities related projects and initiatives. “These projects will be showcased at the maiden Maritime India Summit 2016, for attracting potential investors and their implementation will be taken up starting FY 16-17,” it said. The Ministry of Shipping is also conducting stakeholder consultations with the maritime states and Central Ministries to finalise the NPP by March 2016. PTI