•    As part of the Sagarmala vision, India’s cargo traffic handling capacity will be enhanced from 1,550 MTPA to 3,000 MTPS by 2025.

•   Seaborne trade in India has grown twice the global growth rate of 3.3%.

• Share in traffic for major commodities (2021)

•   India’s share in global ship repair is less than 1%. However, owing to its favourable location, the sector has great potential.

•  Cochin Shipyard Ltd has the highest ship repair capacity among the public sector shipyards. In the private sector, L&T Shipbuilding Ltd adorns this crown.

•  The potential of India in ship repair:

o   Geostrategic location: Long coastline with all-weather ports located on the trade route of tanker/bulk carrier traffic.

o   The ready availability of a trained workforce.

o   Capacity to absorb all segments of the labour class due to the potential of this sector to ensure a relatively continuous flow of revenue and employment.

o   Competitive labour rates vis-à-vis Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines etc.

o   Quality and speed of work are at par with the Philippines, Indonesia, and Vietnam, which have a significant presence in the industry.

• There are 111 National Waterways (NW) in India. 106 NW was added after 2016.

• The total length of NWs is 20,275 km spread across 24 states.

Other waterways: Godavari, Krishna, Barak, Sunderbans, Damodar Valley Cooperation canal, etc.

2.    Major Ports Authority Act 2021

3.    Draft Indian Ports Bill 2022

4.    Port handling capacity to be raised by 4X the capacity in 2020 by 2047.

5.    Investments:

o   100% FDI is allowed in port and construction of harbour and maintenance.

o   Maritime India Vision (MIV) 2030 estimates investments of ₹1-1.25 lakh Cr for capacity augmentation and developing world-class infrastructure at Indian Ports.

o   New Model Concession Agreement – 2021 for Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) Projects at Major Ports.

6.    National Logistics Portal-Marine: a single-window logistics portal launched in 2023 to reduce logistics costs.

7.    Gati Shakti– National Master Plan for Infrastructure development

8.    Workforce capacity building:

o   School of Logistics, Waterways and Communication inaugurated in Agartala.

o   India’s first Centre of Excellence for Green Port  and Shipping.

• Logistics Data Banks (LDB): All major ports have been sanctioned an LDB. It can boost foreign trade, increase EODB, decrease container movement lead time, and reduce transaction costs.

•   Port Community System (PCS1x)

o   It is a cloud-based new-generation technology with a user-friendly interface that seamlessly integrates stakeholders from the maritime trade on a single platform.

o   Significance:

§  Facilitates improved communication with the customs enabling API-based real-time interaction.

§  Reduces errors in the process.

§  Decrease the dwell time.

§  Reduce by a minimum of 1.5-2 days from the transaction’s life.

§  Decrease the overall cost of the transaction.

§  Increase EODB and Logistics Performance.

o   It will facilitate harmonized and effective functioning of aids to marine navigation and Vessel Traffic Services along the Indian coastline.

2.    Merchant Shipping Bill, 2020 and Coastal Shipping Bill to replace Merchant Shipping Act, 1958.

3.    The Admiralty (Jurisdiction and Settlement of Maritime Claims) Act 2017.

4.    Centre of excellence in Maritime and Ship Building under Sagarmala Project at Vishakhapatnam and Mumbai. It will skill the workforce in ship design, manufacturing, operating, maintenance, repair and overhaul.

5.    A policy of 100% FDI in shipping has been available since 1997.

6.    Project Sethusamudram

o   It is a proposed shipping route between Sri Lanka and India in the shallow straits. It will provide a continuously navigable sea route around the Indian peninsula.

7.    A scheme for promoting flagging merchant ships in India by providing subsidy support to Indian shipping companies in global tenders floated by Ministries and CPSEs.

8.    Subsidy Scheme to boost merchant ships.

o   It provides subsidy support to Indian Shipping companies in global tenders floated by the Ministries and the CPSEs to import government cargo. As a result, it results in significant ForEx savings and gives strategic advantages by reducing excessive dependence on foreign ships for transporting India’s critical cargo.

2.    PLI scheme for shipping containers.

3.    Shipbuilding has been identified as one of the key sectors under the ‘Make in India’ initiative.

4.    New Shipbuilding Financial Assistance Policy for Indian Shipyards: Launched in 2015, it provides financial assistance of up to 20% of the lowest among the “Contract Price” or the “Fair Price” or actual payments received for each vessel built by Indian Shipyards. This assistance is available for 10 years (FY17-FY27), and the 20% rate is to be decreased by 3% every year.

5.    Right of First Refusal to Indian Shipyards is available between 2015 and 2025 for procuring or repairing vessels meant for government or own use.

6.    Standalone’ Shipyards’ were added to the Harmonized Master List of Infrastructure Sub-Sectors in 2016.

7.    International Ship Repair Facility is being developed at Cochin Shipyard Ltd. (CSL). Some renowned firms in the maritime industry have partnered with CSL to set up their units in the Maritime Park in the first phase. CLS expects to position Kochi as a major ship repair hub.

8.    In 2020, changes were made in the guidelines for chartering vessels through a tendering process to facilitate Make in India for shipbuilding.

9.    Cabotage has been relaxed till 2029, allowing foreign flag passenger/cruise ships to call at more than one Indian port.

2.    Jal Marg Vikas Project-I on NW-1 – aimed to develop the river Ganges as a safe navigation mode.

o   A World-Bank-supported project to be developed between Haldia to Varanasi.

o   Fairway Development Works ensure the Least Available Depth (LAD) of 3.0 meters is undertaken in various sections of the NW-1.

o   Multi-modal terminals have been developed at Varanasi, Haldi, and Shahibganj.

o   Navigational Lock at Farakka

o   Intermodal terminal at Kalughat and Ghazipur

3.    Jal Marg Vikas Project – II (Arth Ganga)

o   ‘Project Arth Ganga’ envisages re-engineering the JMVP by involving the local community, focusing on economic activities in and around the Ganga River.

4.    Inland Vessels Bill 2021 passed.

o   Replaces the century-old Inland Vessels Act 1917.

o   To bring all inland waterways in India and the movement of vessels on them for any purpose under a central regulatory regime.

o   Objective: unification of laws for the vessels plying and boosting infrastructure through the Jal Marg Vikas Project.

5.    Development of New National Waterways-IWAI has identified 26 new NWs through techno-economic feasibility studies for undertaking technical interventions to make the waterways navigable for transportation purposes.

6.    National Inland Navigation Institute (NINI) at Patna – Established in 2004 to develop human resources for the Inland Water Transport Sector.

7.    Ro-Ro/Ro-Pax Service Commenced in Various National Waterways.

8.    Indo-Bangladesh Protocol on Inland Water Transit &Trade (PIWTT) – It is a protocol for mutually beneficial arrangements for the use of their waterways for the movement of cargo between the two countries for passage of goods between two places in one country through the territory of the other, per the laws of the country through the territory of which goods are moving.

·       Recycling of Ships Act 2019. The Recycling Rules 2021 have been notified.

SAGARMALA

• Aim: To promote port-led development in the country.
• Approved in 2015.
• Vision: To reduce the logistics cost of both domestic and EXIM cargo with minimal infrastructure investments, thereby improving the economy’s overall efficiency and increasing the competitiveness of exports.
• Sagarmala Development Company (SDC) have been formed to support the projects.
• The projects under the Sagarmala are categorized under 5 pillars:

➀ Port modernization,

➁ Port connectivity,

➂ Port-led industrialization,

➃ Coastal community development and

➄ Coastal shipping & inland water transport.

• Central and state governments implement these projects, major ports and other agencies primarily through the private or PPP mode.

PILLAR 1: PORT MODERNIZATION

• It involves:

o   Expansion of port capacity through the implementation of well-conceived infrastructure development projects.

o   Increasing operational efficiency of ports through mechanization, digitization, and process simplification. Dredging is covered under this.

o   Addressing environment-related concerns.

• The projects under the modernization pillar are further divided into 4 categories —

➀ New Ports,

➁ Port Modernization — Major Ports,

➂ Port Modernization — Non-Major Ports and

➃ Ship Repair projects.

• Outcome:

o   Average turnaround time improved in FY21 to around 60 hours against 83 hours in FY17.

o   The average output per ship berth-day has increased from 14576 tonnes in FY17 to 15855 tonnes in FY22 (8% increase).

PILLAR 2: PORT CONNECTIVITY

• It involves improving connectivity infrastructure connecting ports with domestic consumption and production centres through rail, road, pipeline, and multi-modal logistic parks (MMLP).
• The Ministry of Railways, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Major Ports, Maritime Boards and State Road Development Companies implement these projects.
• Steps taken to expedite projects under this pillar:

a. Prioritization and expediting the identified port road and port rail connectivity projects.

b. Incorporation of ‘National Highways Logistics Management Limited’ (NHLML), an SPV under the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI). NHLML is mandated to develop MMLP and conduct works related to National Highway connectivity for ports.

c. Funding: SPV were allowed between Centre, State and PPP operators for providing CAPEX & OPEX support for the road/rail connectivity projects and may also run the services with profits utilized for making the SPV self-sufficient.

d.    Focus on creating capacity in the hinterland.

PILLAR 3: PORT-LED INDUSTRIALIZATION

• Aims to reduce logistics costs by locating industries near the ports.
• The projects identified under this pillar are divided into 4 categories:

➀ Industrial Cluster,

➁ Maritime Cluster,

➂ Smart Industrial Port City (SIPC)/SEZ and

➃ Thermal Power Plant.

• Coastal Economic Zone (CEZ)

o   It has been envisaged to facilitate port-led industrialization and/or Export-Import (EXIM) / coastal trade of goods & commodities.

o   CEZ is a spatial economic region comprising a large area in a single district or a group of coastal districts or district(s) with strong linkage to ports in that region/vicinity with an intent to reduce the logistics costs from demand/supply centre to port and vice versa.

o   It has a dual focus – direct contribution of port traffic coupled with employment generation and reduction of logistics costs.

o   Such a zone is envisaged to comprise industrial areas/estates, housing & urban infrastructure, and logistics/transport infrastructure within itself to be a self-contained region with a direct or a strong port linkage.

• Objectives of Coastal Economic Zone

1. Creating large-scale employment opportunities in the coastal regions across identified sectors to promote development in the coastal areas.

2. Increasing India’s EXIM trade competitiveness by reducing logistics costs through proximity and port connectivity.

3. Increasing freight traffic through the ports near the industries on account of trade generated by these manufacturing capacities.

4. Provide an impetus to coastal shipping by creating supply and demand centres close to the coastline for the domestic movement of goods and passengers.

PILLAR 4: COASTAL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

• More than 60 coastal districts in India are spread across the coastal states/UTs.
• The coastal community is one of the key stakeholders of the Sagarmala Programme, and hence ensuring their social well-being is one of the major objectives.
• It involves the development of fish harbours and the skill development of the coastal community.
• Example: Up-skilling of the coastal population under DDU-GKY Sagarmala Convergence Programme. Under this convergence, the Ministry provides funding support, whereas MoRD carries implementation and management.
• Floating jetties are an alternate solution to India’s over-crowded fishing harbours. Several advantages of floating jetties are:

1.    Cost-effective

2.    Faster installation.

3.    Eases the disembarkation/ embarkation.

4.    Require no permanent construction offshore.

5.    Easy expansion & relocation due to modular construction

6.    25+ Years of life with minimal environmental impact.

PILLAR 5: COASTAL SHIPPING & INLAND WATER TRANSPORT

• This pillar involves project categories like RORO, ROPax, tourism jetties, seaplanes, infrastructure for coastal cargo handling, cruise shipping, urban water transportation and island development.
• RORO (“roll-on/roll-off”) describes a vessel transporting wheeled cargo. The ships have built-in ramps to make loading and unloading wheeled cargo easier than done with a crane.

o   RoPax are vessels built for freight vehicle transport along with passenger accommodation.

o   RORO gives land transport a bigger action radius, making it possible to shorten their route through ships instead of diverting to a longer route.

o   RoPax services have a direct positive impact – drastically reducing passenger travel time and improving delivery time, and the loading and unloading process is quick and agile.

o   These projects have opened new avenues in coastal shipping and tourism and enhanced the socio-economic welfare of its vicinity; fuel-efficient and helps reduce CO2 emissions, reduce traffic on road and rail and prevent loss of human lives caused due to accidents and since there is no loading and unloading at the port, there is less risk of accidents and cargo damage.

o   Some examples:

1.    RoPax Ferry services between Ghogha and Hazira in the Gulf of Cambay – Kandala Port.

2.    ROPAX service from Bhaucha Dhakka (Ferry Wharf), i.e., Mumbai to Mandwa – JNPT port.

• Seaplane Projects involve constructing water aerodromes at the origin and destination points where the seaplanes will utilize the water bodies for taking off and landing. Advantages:

1.    Improve connectivity across the nation.

2.    Make India an attractive destination for tourists.

3.    Generate employment opportunities.

4.    Stimulate tourism and associated business activities.

 Example: Brahmaputra riverside and Umrangso reservoir in Assam, Junglighat (Port Blair) in Andamans and Surat in Gujarat.

• Island Development

o   India has a total of 1,382 offshore identified islands.

o   Island development can be across various use cases related to maritime activities (e.g., bunkering, ship breaking etc.), tourism, energy generation, fisheries, agriculture etc.