Saturday, October 24, 2015

National Perspective Plan – Came late, but finally came

Sagarmala Initiative - A new era for Indian Shipping
Having lengthy coastal belt is a blessing by nature. Many landlocked countries across the globe are desperate to get a connection to sea ports and global waterways. Major cities located on sea shores made full use of its access to maritime commons and became hub of industrial activities. Look at Singapore a county which may not reach its current form if it was not located in such a strategic location.

For long time, we ignored the industrial importance of coastal area and coastal shipping; even though 3 out of 4 of our metros are located in sea shores.

Probably National Perspective Plan (NPP) set to launch by Jan next year will open a new chapter. As per the policy potential geographical zones called Coastal Economic Zones (CEZ) will be identified and developed. These economic zones will be around a group of major or minor ports. Zone can extend 300-500 KM in coast and 200-300KM inland. As of now 14 CEZ are identified.

An important point in this plan is its integration with Dedicated Freight Corridor, National Highways, SEZss and other industrial areas (Sagarmala Initiative).

Hope that, it will be good start for the coastal areas, whose potential we ignored for a very long time. Global Maritime Commons are the primary nerves of global trading system. A direct connection with it will quickly improve the industrial activity and generate more jobs and development.

Sajeev.

Sagarmala Initiative: Sagarmala project is to promote port-led direct and indirect development and to provide infrastructure to transport goods to and from ports quickly, efficiently and cost-effectively. This focus on, (a) Supporting and enabling Port-led Development through policy and institutional interventions (b) Port Infrastructure Enhancement, including modernization and setting up of new ports, and (iii) Efficient Evacuation to and from hinterland.

Sagarmala Initiative – PMO

Eurospirit - Off Mumbai Coast

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