PM Modi to address India Maritime Week at a special plenary session on Wednesday

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], October 27 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit the India Maritime Week (IMW) 2025 on October 29, where he will tour exhibition centres and experience zones before addressing a global gathering, Union Minister for Shipping, Ports and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal said here on Monday.

The landmark maritime event, inaugurated by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, has attracted participation from more than 85 nations, with over 350 global speakers and 11 foreign ministers in attendance, marking it as one of the largest maritime gatherings in the world.

"This particular journey is to make India one of the superpowers in the maritime sector," Minister Sonowal said at a press conference, adding that under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Modi, India is on track to become one of the top five shipbuilding nations globally by 2047.

The Minister highlighted the transformative progress achieved over the past 11 years, noting that cargo handling capacity has increased by 200 to 300 per cent across different verticals. "Under the leadership of the Prime Minister, the confidence of the people of the country has doubled," Sonowal said.

He attributed this growth to the Prime Minister's vision, innovative policies, and commitment to good governance, transparency, and accountability, which has created an ecosystem for capacity building and capability enhancement in the maritime sector.

"In the last 11 years, this particular sector, which was not taken on the priority agenda before, has witnessed remarkable transformation through the Prime Minister's vision and dynamism," the Minister stated. He emphasised that these efforts have led to the creation of a quality workforce and the development of clusters for shipbuilding, ship repairs, and ship recycling.

In a significant announcement, Vijay Kumar, Secretary of the Ministry of Shipping, Ports and Waterways, revealed that 680 Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) worth Rs 10 lakh crore in investment will be signed during India Maritime Week 2025.

The investment is distributed across key sectors: port-led industrialisation (Rs 1.86 lakh crore), shipbuilding and repair (Rs 1.55 lakh crore), green fuels and sustainability (Rs 1.70 lakh crore), port modernisation and logistics (Rs 1.52 lakh crore), and maritime finance and digitisation (Rs 0.80 lakh crore).

"We are creating clusters for ship repair. All these MoUs are distributed across different sectors of the economy and will lead to the generation of seven lakh plus employment opportunities," Secretary Kumar said.

The India Maritime Week 2025 represents a milestone in the country's ambition to establish itself as a major player in the global maritime industry while generating substantial employment and economic growth. (ANI)

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