Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari has said that the government is looking to mobilise at least Rs 10 lakh crore investment, including Rs 4 lakh crore in the infrastructure sector alone under its ambitious Sagarmala project which aims to accelerate economic development by harnessing the potential of India’s 7,500 km coastline.
Gadkari said that Sagarmala NPP (national perspective plan) envisages viable infrastructure investment worth Rs 4 lakh crore over next 10 years and industrial investment worth 6 lakh crore. He further added that more investment could come from industrial and manufacturing sectors.
Meanwhile, the government has sought comments from various stakeholders on the national perspective plan of Sagarmala under which it has identified about 150 projects. Out of 150 projects, 40 are related to ports modernisation while 10 are community development projects. Ports capacity in India is close to about 1,400 million tonnes. A total value of about 1 billion tonnes of cargo is handled across over 200 ports including the Centre-owned 12 major ports.