India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor will usher change, says PM Modi

Mumbai: The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor will transform the global maritime trade with the country during the Amrit Kaal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.

“The India-Middle East Europe Economic Corridor will transform the picture of global trade like the Silk Route in the past,” said Modi inaugurating the Global Maritime India Summit 2023 being held at the Bandra-Kurla Complex in Mumbai on Tuesday. 

Joining via video conferencing from New Delhi, Modi also unveiled ‘Amrit Kaal Vision 2047’, a blueprint for the Indian maritime blue economy. 

He said that Next Generation Mega Port, International Container Trans-shipment port, island development, inland waterways, and multi-modal hub will be undertaken under this leading to a reduction in business cost and environmental degradation will improve logistical efficiency and create jobs. 

The Prime Minister reiterated that investors have a great opportunity to become part of this campaign and join India.

Modi reiterated that the India of today is working to fulfill the resolve of becoming a developed nation in the next 25 years. 

He underlined that the government is bringing about revolutionary changes in every sector and mentioned the work done to strengthen the maritime sector of India.

Modi said that the capacity of major ports in India has doubled, and turnaround time for big vessels has come down to less than 24 hours as compared to 42 hours in 2014. He also mentioned the construction of new roads to increase port connectivity and touched upon the SagarMala Project to strengthen the coastal infrastructure. 

These efforts, the Prime Minister said, are increasing employment opportunities and Ease of Living manifold.

“Government’s vision of ‘Ports for Prosperity and Ports for Progress’ is bringing transformational changes at the ground level”, the Prime Minister said as he noted that the mantra of ‘Ports for Productivity’ is also being encouraged.

Modi informed that the government is taking major steps to enhance economic productivity by making the logistics sector more efficient and effective. He underlined that Coastal Shipping Modes are also being modernised in India and informed that the coastal cargo traffic has doubled in the last decade, thereby providing a cost-effective logistic option for the people. Regarding the development of inland waterways in India, the Prime Minister informed that cargo handling of national waterways grew by four times. He also mentioned India’s improvement in the Logistics Performance Index in the last 9 years.

The Prime Minister talked about the government’s focus on the ship-building and repair sector. He said that indigenous aircraft Carrier INS Vikrant is proof of India's capacity. “India is going to become one of the top five ship-building nations in the coming decade. Our Mantra is ‘Make in India - Make for the world’”, the Prime Minister said.

He informed that the government is working to bring together all stakeholders in the sector through maritime clusters. Ship-building and repair centers will be developed in many places. He mentioned that India is already at second place in the field of ship recycling.

He also informed about the effort to make the major ports in India carbon-neutral via a net-zero strategy for the sector.