Maritime India Summit attracts Rs.82,905 crore investment plans

Mumbai- In the hectic first two days of the first-ever Maritime India Summit, maritime investment proposals worth Rs.82,905 crore were signed by various players including major ports, state maritime boards and PSUs, officials said here on Friday.

A total of 141 MoUs and business agreements, covering a wide range of projects including modernization of existing ports and establishing new ones, development and expansion of inland waterways, enhancement of cargo handling capacity of Indian ports, improving hinterland connectivity of ports with road-rail networks and upgradation of educational and training facilities for maritime sector, have been signed.

Some of the major Indian companies who have signed agreements include the Adani, Jindal, Vedanta, ESSAR, and Shapoorji Pallonji Company.

A major agreement, signed between the Maharashtra Maritime Board and Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, pertains to establishing a greenfield port at Maharashtra’s Vadhavan, with its first phase estimated to cost around Rs.9,167 crore.

The Andhra Pradesh government signed a MoU with Inland Waterways Authority of India to develop the National Waterway 4 at a cost of around Rs.3,000 crore. Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu said that once it is developed, this waterway will take a significant portion of cargo traffic off the roads.

The Gujarat Maritime Board and Shapoorji Pallonji company signed a MoU to develop a new LNG Terminal at Chara costing around Rs.5,411 crore, while IL&FS will set up a Maritime Services Cluster at GIFT City, Gandhinagar.

The Vishakhapatnam Port Trust and HPCL signed a deal to double the capacity of the Visakha Refinery from 7.5 MMT at an estimated cost of Rs.18,412 crore.

The Indian Maritime University has signed MoUs with four international institutions including the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Maritime University, Dhaka, the Institute of Chartered Ship-brokers and Plymouth University, Britain and Admiral G.I. Nevelskoi Maritime State University, Vladivostok, Russia.