Sagarmala Project

Why in news?

• Sagarmala, the Centre’s flagship project for the development of ports and waterways infrastructure, has seen significant progress and projects worth Rs 2.12 trillion will be completed by 2024.

About Sagarmala Project:

• The Sagarmala project seeks to develop a string of ports around India’s coast.
• The objective of this initiative is to promote “Port-led development” along India’s 7500 km long coastline.
• It aims to develop access to new development regions with intermodal solutions and promotion of the optimum modal split, enhanced connectivity with main economic centres and beyond through expansion of rail, inland water, coastal and road services.
• Nodal Ministry: Union Ministry of Shipping
• To implement this, State governments would set up State Sagarmala committees, headed by the chief minister or the minister in charge of ports.
• At the central level, a Sagarmala Development Company (SDC) will be setup to provide equity support to assist various special purpose vehicles (SPVs) setup for various projects.

Components:

• Port Modernization & New Port Development
  • Extending the capacity of existing ports and developing new ports
• Port Connectivity Enhancement:
  • Improving port-hinterland connectivity, optimizing cost and time of cargo movement through multi-modal logistics solutions including domestic waterways
• Port-linked Industrialization:
  • Developing industrial clusters close to ports and developing Coastal Economic Zones
• Coastal Community Development:
  • Promoting sustainable development of coastal communities through skill development & livelihood generation activities, fisheries development, coastal tourism, etc.
• Coastal Shipping & Inland Waterways Transport:
  • To move cargo through sustainable inland and coastal waterways mode.

Significance of the Project:

• India is located along key international trade routes in the Indian Ocean and has a long coastline of over 7,500 km. Yet, capacity constraints and lack of modern facilities at Indian ports tremendously elongates the time taken to ship goods in and out of the country and has held back India’s share in world trade. Sagarmala could boost India’s merchandise exports and create employments.
• The project decreases the cost of transporting domestic cargo by optimizing the modal mix.
• Identify future industrial capacities near the coasts to reduce the logistics cost of bulk commodities.
• Developing discrete manufacturing clusters close to ports to enhance export competitiveness.

Sagarmala Seaplane Services:

• The project aims to provide air connectivity to numerous tourist, religious, remote and unexplored locations near water bodies.
• A seaplane is an aeroplane with a fixed-wing that is designed for taking off and landing on water.
• The implementation and execution of the "Sagarmala Seaplane Services (SSPS)" would be through the SPV with the Sagarmala Development Company Ltd, SDCL, under the control of the Ministry of Shipping.

PRACTICE QUESTION:

Which of the following are the components of Sagarmala project?

1. Developing new ports

2. Promoting sustainable development of coastal communities through skill development

3. Promoting inland waterways transport

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 2 and 3 only

(c) 1 and 3 only

(d) 1,2 and 3

Answer