The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday approved the incorporation of Sagarmala Development Company (SDC) under the Companies Act, 2013 with an initial Authorized Share Capital of Rs. 1,000 Crore and a Subscribed Share Capital of Rs. 90 Crore. The SDC will be under the administrative control of the Ministry of Shipping. It will provide equity support to the project Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) and funding support to the residual projects under the Sagarmala Programme.
The implementation of the identified projects will be taken up by the relevant Ports, State Governments / Maritime Boards, Central Ministries, mainly through private or PPP mode, provide equity support for the project Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) set up by the Ports / State / Central Ministries window and /or implement only those residual cannot be funded by any other means / mode.
As part of the coastal community development objective of the Sagarmala Programme, the Ministry of Shipping is taking up a number of initiatives/projects. Notable among them are the coastal community skill projects and projects for development of marine fisheries sector.
Skill development projects taken up’ include coastal district skill gap analysis study/ cutting-edge skill training in the ports & maritime sector, safety training in ship-breaking and repair sector, coastal districts skill training as part of Deen Daygl Upadhyaya Grarneen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) and marine fishermen skill development projects.
Ministry of Shipping, in collaboration with the Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries (Ministry of Agriculture), will part-fund select fishing harbour projects under the Sagarmala Programme.
While identifying the projects, priority will be given to those projects which are nearing completion. Ministry of Shipping is also preparing a coastal community development scheme, in convergence with the existing Central/State Government schemes.
One of the important roles assigned to SDC is to manage the coastal community development scheme and fund coastal community development projects identified under the Sagarmala Programme. The projects considered would be specific time-bound local interventions and innovative in nature.
The SDC will undertake the preparation of the detailed master plans for the Coastal Economic Zones (CEZs) identified as part of the NPP and provide a framework for ensuring the integrated development of Indian maritime sector.
The Sagarmala Programme was launched with the approval of the Union Cabinet on March 25, 2015, with a view to achieve the broad objective of promoting port-led economic development in India. In order to harness India’s 7,500 km long coastline, 14,500 km of potentially navigable waterways, and strategic location on key international maritime trade routes, the Government has embarked on the ambitious Sagarmala Programme which was approved by the Cabinet on March 25, 2015. The NPP has identified more than 150 projects across the areas of Port Modernization and New Port Development, Port Connectivity Enhancement, Port-led Industrialization and Coastal Community Development.
