Why in the News?

The Prime Minister unveiled landmark maritime initiatives to boost growth and sustainability in the maritime sector during India Maritime Week 2025.

Major Initiatives launched in India Maritime Week

• Maritime Investment Roadmap: India invited Singapore to join its $1 Lakh Crores Maritime Investment Roadmap covering shipbuilding, port modernisation, and green-fuel collaboration.
• Digi Bandar: A national framework to make all ports data-driven, AI-enabled, and interconnected. 
  • It aims to improve efficiency, safety, and transparency across India's ports.
• Green Tug Programme: Launched to deploy 100 eco-friendly tugs by 2040, with an investment of about ₹12,000 crore, supporting India's transition to cleaner and energy-efficient maritime logistics. 

India's Maritime Sector and Vision

• Trade: Nearly 95% of India's trade by volume and about 70% by value moves through maritime routes, highlighting the sea as the lifeblood of India's commerce.
• Indian Ports: In FY 2024–25, major ports handled ~855 million tonnes of cargo, with total port capacity nearly doubling from 1,400 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA) to 2,762 MMTPA.
  • Average vessel turnaround time of major ports has been reduced from 93 hours to just 48 hours, enhancing overall productivity and global competitiveness.
• Shipping Sector: Number of Indian-flagged vessels has risen from 1,205 to 1,549 and gross tonnage of the Indian fleet has increased from 10 million gross tonnes (MGT) to 13.52 MGT.
• Inland Waterways: Number of operational waterways has increased remarkably from 3 to 29 with an increase of 710% in cargo movement from 2014. 
• Workforce: India's seafarer workforce has surged from 1.25 lakh to over 3 lakh, now accounting for 12% of the global seafaring workforce, making the country one of the world's top three suppliers of trained seafarers.

Challenges in Maritime Sector

• Connectivity Bottlenecks: Lack of adequate last-mile connectivity to the ports through road/rail hinders trade, market access and increases logistics costs.
• Transhipment Competitiveness: Limited transshipment handling capacity and tough competition from nearby transhipment hubs like the Port of Colombo.
• Indian Flagged Tonnage: High tax provisions with progressively higher tax on larger vessels discourages ship registration under Indian flag.
  • India's shipping registry accounts for only 0.8% of the world's vessels.
• Manufacturing Gaps: India's share in global shipbuilding remains modest, at about 1% and India imports more than 95% of marine engines installed on commercial ships.
• Maritime Security: India faces diverse maritime security threats including non-state threats (terrorism, smuggling of drugs/arms, piracy), economic threats (IUU fishing, pollution, greenhouse emissions) and state-led threats from China and Pakistan.

Major Programmes for Atmanirbhar Maritime Sector 

• Maritime India Vision 2030 (MIV 2030): Launched in 2021, it identifies ten pivotal themes that will shape India's journey toward becoming a global maritime powerhouse.
• Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision 2047: A long-term roadmap for India's maritime resurgence, with nearly ₹80 lakh crore invested in ports, coastal shipping, inland waterways, shipbuilding, and green shipping.
• Sagarmala Programme: The programme focuses on cutting logistics costs, enhancing trade efficiency, and creating employment through smarter, greener transport networks.
• Port Development: India operationalised its first deep-water international trans-shipment hub at Vizhinjam and the One Nation One Port Process initiative aims to unify documentation and processes across all major ports. 
• Legal Transformation: Parliament passed five key maritime acts, namely Indian Ports Act, Merchant Shipping Act 2025, Carriage of Goods by Sea Act, Bills of Lading Act, and the Coastal Shipping Act, 2025.
• Favourable Investment Climate: The government allows 100% Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in port development.
• "Jalvahak" Cargo Promotion Scheme: To promote Inland Water Transport (IWT), it offers 35% reimbursement on operational costs and launching scheduled cargo services on key NW routes.

Conclusion

India's maritime sector is undergoing a decisive transformation from a support service for trade to a strategic engine of economic growth, sustainability, and global influence. With rising port efficiency, expanding inland waterways, a globally competitive seafaring workforce and a strong push towards decarbonisation, India is aligning its maritime growth with the twin imperatives of Atmanirbhar Bharat and climate responsibility.