New Delhi: The Global Maritime India Summit 2023 concluded on Thursday with 360 MoUs inked with the investment commitment of Rs 8.35 lakh crores for promotion and cooperation in the maritime sector. An additional investable project worth Rs 1.68 lakh crores was also announced.
Expressing satisfaction over the successful completion of the Summit, Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways and Ayush, Sarbananda Sonowal, said that the Global Maritime India Summit, 2023 made a wonderful start by securing an investment commitment of more than Rs 10 lakh crores in this sector. "It was the vision of our Prime Minister Narendra Modi as envisaged in the Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision, 2047," the minister added.
“We would like to extend our gratitude to the several partner countries, all the stakeholders, and delegates who established a connection during this summit. A collaboration on several identified areas was made and efforts were made to create future solutions. With your active support, we believe that GMIS has achieved its objective. It offers a platform to boost regional cooperation and collaboration among maritime nations across dimensions,” he said.
The Global Summit witnessed participation from several countries, including 215 international and national speakers and 50,000 physical and virtual attendees. Building upon the legacy of its preceding editions, the third meet unveiled broader prospects for domestic and international maritime stakeholders.
Highlighting the role of innovation in technology, Sonowal said, “India is at the forefront of research and development. The country is implementing existing technologies leading to driving sectoral efficiency as well as capacity building. Establishing the Digital Centre of Excellence for Maritime Efficiency (COEME) is one of the many initiatives that showcases the Modi government’s commitment towards technological advancement – both in terms of indigenous and collaborative development. In line with this, harnessing the potential of India’s maritime start-up ecosystem would be a key focus area for our government.”
During the three-day discourse, there was also much discussion about sustainable development with green ports and shipping — an area in which Norway and other leading maritime nations are defining best practices and setting standards that the rest of the world should follow.
“India, for example, plans to develop carbon neutrality among other globally trending areas on reduction of GHG emissions with the use of green fuels, electrified/renewable energy-based yard equipment, vehicles," said Sonowal.
Union Minister of Education and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Dharmendra Pradhan emphasized the need for providing seafarers with a more supportive and more comfortable working environment evolved in the post-pandemic era.
The three days of the summit witnessed a series of insightful roundtables and sessions, each addressing critical aspects of the maritime sector including the key regional development initiatives with discussions on the India Middle East Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), BIMSTEC, Chabahar port INTSC corridor.
Aspects like the development of multiple ports of connectivity between Indian and EU countries to combat geopolitical uncertainties, promoting maritime as a gateway for BIMSTEC and IMEC economic corridors and facilitating joint forums to represent pertinent focus areas at IMO were some of the key areas of discussion.
The GMIS 2023 highlighted the opportunities in India’s cruise sector. The Summit brought to the fore the government’s commitment to developing the cruise sector with measures such as the creation of cruise terminal infrastructure, incentivization with relaxation in taxes, and institutional capacity building with training academies dedicated to cruising. The meeting also focused on an attractive and stable regulatory policy framework in line with international standards as well as inviting international players to set up their base in India.
During the inaugural session, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stones for 21 projects worth Rs 18,800 crores. The Prime Minister also launched Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision 2047 - a roadmap for maritime sector development for the next 25 years. It will help India Atma Nirbhar by 2047.
