ShriSonowal said Maritime infrastructure plays a vital role in the nation’s economy. Aligning with the Maritime India Vision 2030, Sagarmala project of MoPSW is aimed at providing better facilities to the people in the coastal region. He said its initiatives will further boost infrastructure and drive investments to improve regional connectivity to aid trade.

ShriSonowal said in the state of Maharashtra, there are 114 projects worth Rs. 99,210 Crore under SagarmalaProgramme. Out of the total 114 projects being implemented in the state of Maharashtra, 43 projects worth Rs. 2121 Crore are partially funded by MoPSW.  He said out of 43 projects, 37 projects worth Rs 1,388 Crore, 9 projects worth Rs 279 Crore have been completed, 17 projects worth Rs 666 Crore are under implementation and 11 projects worth Rs 443 Crore are under development stage.

The Minister said the Sagarmala initiative has successfully enabled the Indian ports to handle large volumes by making them more efficient and reducing the turnaround time of containers. He said numerous projects have been undertaken across various categories such as port modernization, rail, road, cruise tourism, RORO, ROPAX, fisheries, coastal infrastructure and skill development.  He said currently under Sagarmalaprogramme of MoPSW, 31 Ro-Ro/Ro-Pax projects itself are in the state of Maharashtra.

ShriSonowal said to celebrate the maritime activities of the coastal states of the country, ‘Coastal States Pavilion’ have been proposed to be developed in the National Maritime Heritage Complex. He said accordingly for the state of Maharashtra, land area of 14,000 sq. ft. with construction area of 6,000- 8,000 sq. ft. has been identified in the periphery of the Coastal States Pavilion of the NMHC site. ShriSonowal requested the Maharashtra State Government to avail this opportunity and make a grand display of the Maritime History of the Maratha empire and Great ShivajiMaharaj. He further added that “as per the grand vision of our Hon’ble Prime Minister, the proposed NMHC will showcase the Indian Maritime History and will become an iconic destination in future”.

ShriSonowal also highlighted the challenge with respect to the projects in the state of Maharashtra. He said, ‘there are 16 Sagarmala funded projects delayed for more than one year due to various technical issues and need immediate attention for their successful implementation.’

The Minister said MoPSW is providing big push to Ro-Ro and Passenger transportation through waterways as it is environment friendly solution to mobility and resulting in significant savings of cost and time. ROPAX facilities are being developed by State or Central authorities and vessel deployment and services are carried out majorly by private players, he added.

Chief Minister of Maharashtra committed to resolve the various issues and expedite the implementation of the projects at the earliest.