Govt incorporates Sagarmala Co with Rs 1K cr share capital

To give a push to port-led development under the ambitious Sagarmala project, government today announced incorporation of Sagarmala Development Company with Rs 1,000 crore as initial authorised share capital.
"As part of the efforts to promote port-led development in the country, the Sagarmala Development Company (SDC) has been incorporated under the Companies Act, 2013.
"The company will have an initial authorized share capital of Rs 1,000 crore and a subscribed share capital of Rs 90 crore," the Ministry of Shipping said in a statement.
The main objective of the company is to identify port-led development projects under the Sagarmala programme and provide equity support for the project Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) set up by the ports, states and Central ministries.

The Cabinet in July had approved the formation of the SDC under the administrative control of the Ministry of Shipping.
"The implementation of the identified projects would be taken up by the relevant ports, state governments/Maritime Boards, central ministries, through private or PPP mode.

"The company would act as the nodal agency for coordination and monitoring of all the currently identified projects under Sagarmala as well as other projects emerging from the master plans or other sources," the statement said.
It would undertake the preparation of the detailed master plans for the Coastal Economic Zones (CEZs) identified as part of the National Perspective Plan (NPP) and provide a framework for ensuring the integrated development of Indian maritime sector.

It would also manage the funding of coastal community development projects identified under Sagarmala.
This will include projects related to value addition in fisheries, aquaculture, cold chain development, skill development, livelihood generation, local tourism and recreational facilities which would be beneficial to the livelihoods of the coastal communities.
SDC would raise funds as debt/equity (as long term capital), as per the project requirements, by leveraging resources provided by the Government of India and from multilateral and bilateral funding agencies, the statement said, adding it would also aim to increase the scope of private sector participation in project development.
The incorporation of SDC is part of the ambitious Sagarmala programme of the government which aims to harness India's 7,500 km long coastline, 14,500 km of potentially navigable waterways and strategic location on key international maritime trade routes.