Cabinet gives 'in-principle' approval to Sagarmala project

The government Wednesday gave its 'in-principle' approval for the concept and institutional framework of Sagarmala project.

The decision was taken by the union cabinet which met here under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

According to the cabinet, the prime objective of the project is to develop infrastructure to transport goods to and from ports, efficiently and cost-effectively.

The cabinet said that the project initiative will be supporting and enabling port-led development through appropriate policy and institutional interventions and provide for an institutional framework for ensuring inter-agency collaboration.

"The Sagarmala project intends to achieve the broad objectives of enhancing the capacity of major and non-major ports and to make them efficient, thereby enabling them to become drivers of port-led economic development," the cabinet said in a statement.

The cabinet added that for a comprehensive and integrated planning of the project, a national perspective plan (NPP) for the entire coastline will be prepared within six months. It will identify potential geographical regions to be called coastal economic zones (CEZs).

"While preparing the NPP, synergy and integration with planned industrial corridors, dedicated freight corridors, national highway development programme, industrial clusters and special economic zones would be ensured," the statement said.

The cabinet added that at the central level, a Sagarmala Development Company (SDC) will be set up under the Companies Act, 1956.

"The SDC shall get the detailed master plans for individual zones prepared within a two-year period. The business plan of the SDC shall be finalised within a period of six months," the statement added.