Sarbananda Sonowal at Chintan Baithak shares India's vision to propel Blue Economy in K'taka

New Delhi, Jun 27: Union Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways initiated a three day Chintan Baithak on Jun 26, to discuss and deliberate ideas and innovations that can propel India’s blue economy in Karnataka. The Baithak was chaired by the Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways (PSW) Sarbananda Sonowal.

 

 

 

 

On the occasion, Sarbananda Sonowal said the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to enable the coastal areas development, improve coastal infrastructure and protect and promote marine economy. He said all these steps are aimed at transformation of the blue economy and realization of the rationale behind ‘transformation through transportation.’ He said to make an Atmanirbhar Bharat, it is imperative that utmost care is taken to optimally utilize the huge opportunity of the Indian marine economy. He said our role - as a ministry of ports, shipping and waterways - is to empower and enable conduits through which these economic transformation can be achieved.

 

 

 

 

 

The Minister said through the Chintan Baithak, the best minds of country have come together so that all of us can deliberate, discuss and decide various challenges and opportunities. He said this will go a long way in preparing the roadmap for smooth and swift implementation of our plan to develop and modernize our ports. Sonowal said we must look at the PPP model for this that will also ease up government resources for Greenfield port development. This will comprehensively develop the coastal regions of India for ease of living for people living in these areas and, at the same time, helps businesses avail best services through ease.

 

In order to promote Multi Modal Connectivity, the Ministry is taking active efforts towards comprehensive development of both major & non-major ports. The importance of a well coordinated ecosystem was highlighted during the deliberations. Sonowal further added that it is imperative that Ports should expedite infrastructure projects at their end to increase the capital expenditure realization. For effective implementation of PM Gati Shakti National Multi Modal Connectivity Plan, emphasis was laid on prioritizing rail-road-waterways development. He said, Master Plan to enable ports to identify and resolve bottlenecks in multi-modal connectivity is the need of the hour.