The maritime sector is a new entrant in the Indian policy-making space. This sector is vast, but the literature on it is minuscule. For decades, the maritime space did not elicit much interest from a relatively closed economy.
Yet, as the Indian economy has become globally connected, the demands to understand the maritime sector, and consequently take advantage of its immense possibilities, have now become evident. Indian policy-making has come to realise that no sizable economy can truly take off without a deep investment in the maritime sector. These possibilities are no longer limited to search for estimates of mineral wealth under the seas, fishing wealth, or even offshore renewable energy. Those are all important, but a huge global dimension involving trade dominance and consequent geo-strategic concerns has come to occupy the forefront.
India has just started to put in place a shipping industry, after decades of neglect. The building blocks include building up of shipyards with adequate capacity to build these ships, then construct these ships with the latest technology which too is rapidly shifting towards a green economy.
The book coves various aspects related to India's maritime industry excluding and including the abovementioned.
The maritime sector is a new entrant in the Indian policy-making space. The sector is vast, but the literature on it is minuscule. For decades, the maritime space did not elicit much interest from a relatively closed economy.
Take some examples: The present shape of Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways came into being in November 2020. Some of the key policy changes date back to 2015. In 2016, India assumed the responsibility for the Chabahar port in Iran. Most others too like the formation of India Ports Global Ltd. are less than ten years old.
Yet, as the Indian economy has become globally connected, the demands to understand the maritime sector, and consequently take advantage of its immense possibilities, have now become evident. Indian policy-making has come to realise that no sizable economy can truly take off without a deep investment in the maritime sector.
These possibilities are no longer limited to search for estimates of mineral wealth under the seas, fishing wealth, or even offshore renewable energy. Those are all important, but a huge global dimension involving trade dominance and consequent geo-strategic concerns has come to occupy the forefront.
What are these concerns? They span across multiple fronts-trade, shipbuilding. regulation and governance. Let's explore them one by one.
From the point of view of trade, the question is: how smart are the ports in handling the rising volume of sea trade from India and the neighbouring nations? So, there are issues of transshipment ports, for instance. Each of those projects has enormous scale.
From the point of view of shipping, the need is for shipyards that can churn out large carriers like VLCCs to even polar-class vehicles, generating thousands of direct and indirect jobs and business for the smallest units to large companies, often located deep inland.
From the point of view of regulatory systems which help the nation become an attractive base for shipping flags; the financial business of underwriting the maritime business spanning every sort of banking and insurance needs.
From the point of view of the government, which will also have a sterling role to play, setting financial, engineering, environmental, and legal rules for companies, financial institutions, training bodies, and even government authorities to play with clear rules.
The concerns are also from the point of view of expanding connectivity with an ever-expanding set of neighbours. These standards help them to use the ocean lanes, take on advantage of huge ports and consequently enjoy larger inland freight movements which will help their GDP grow faster.
These are the possibilities. Securing those possibilities needs navigating between shoals of missed opportunities to find out a bank of deft policies to develop ports, build globally competitive shipyards, and secure finance to fuel the voyage.
Hindu (935)
Agriculture (118)
Ancient (1085)
Archaeology (754)
Architecture (563)
Art & Culture (910)
Biography (702)
Buddhist (544)
Cookery (167)
Emperor & Queen (565)
Islam (242)
Jainism (307)
Literary (896)
Mahatma Gandhi (372)
Send as free online greeting card
Email a Friend
Manage Wishlist