Shipping Ministry organises 'Chintan Baithak' to propel India's Blue Economy

New Delhi [India], June 26 : With an aim to discuss and deliberate ideas and innovations that can propel India's blue economy, a three-day 'Chintan Baithak' was organised by the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW), informed the officials on Sunday.
The Baithak was chaired by the Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (PSW) and Ayush, Sarbananda Sonowal including Chairpersons of all major ports, and senior officials of MoPSW attended the meeting to take part in the deliberations in the brainstorming session.
Speaking on the occasion, Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal highlighted Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision to develop and promote the marine economy.
"The vision of PM Modi is to enable the development of the coastal areas, improve coastal infrastructure and protect and promote the marine economy. All these steps are aimed at the transformation of the blue economy and the realisation of the rationale behind transformation through transportation," he said.
He also emphasised that it is imperative that utmost care is taken to optimally utilise the huge opportunity of the Indian marine economy to make an Atmanirbhar Bharat.
"Our role - as a ministry of ports, shipping and waterways - is to empower and enable conduits through which these economic transformations can be achieved. Through this Chintan Baithak, the best minds of India have come together so that all of us can deliberate, discuss and decide various challenges and opportunities," he added.
He further lauded the sincere efforts of Cochin Shipyard Ltd. in promoting the spirit of Hon'ble PM's initiative of Atmanirbhar Bharat through the development of indigenous and green technology vessels.
"This will go a long way in preparing the roadmap for smooth & swift implementation of our plan to develop & modernise our ports. We must look at the PPP model for this that will also ease up government resources for Greenfield port development, 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," said Sonowal.
The Union Minister also admired the Karnataka State government and expressed gratitude towards the Chief Minister of Karnataka for extending their cooperation in organizing this 'Chintan Baithak'.
A total of 157 road connectivity projects and 137 rail connectivity projects are being undertaken for promoting multimodal connectivity at Ports. The Union Minister exhorted all the port authorities to identify, initiate and complete one important project for modernisation and mechanisation. This will augment port capacity and improve functional efficiency.
These completed projects, the Minister said, would showcase the efforts taken by the Major Ports to complement the impetus provided by the Hon'ble Prime Minister towards infrastructure development and its multiplier effects by boosting the capital expenditure by Rs. 7.5. Lakh crore the current fiscal - an increase of 35.4 per cent over the previous year.