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India has been re-elected to the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) Council with the highest vote in its category at elections held at its Assembly in London for the 2025-26 biennium. India's election in Category B on Friday falls under the collection of 10 states with the largest interest in international seaborne trade, alongside Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The newly elected Council will meet for its 136th session on December 4 and will elect its Chair and Vice-Chair for the next biennium, the IMO said. India re-elected to the IMO Council securing the highest vote in Category B with 154 votes, the Indian High Commission in London announced following the vote. We thank our partners for putting their trust in India, and pledge to continue to work for the global maritime sector, the mission stated. The IMO is the premier body that oversees the world's maritime sector, which in turn underpins .
Sagarmala Finance Corporation Limited (SMFCL) will raise Rs 8,000 crore in the current financial year from banks, financial institutions and through bonds to further boost the maritime prowess of the nation. SMFCL, formerly known as Sagarmala Development Company Limited, is India's first maritime sector-specific Non-Banking Financial Company. It was formally registered as an NBFC with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on June 19, 2025. SMFCL in a statement said in a recently held annual general meeting , the board approved a proposal to raise Rs 8,000 crore in the current financial year. It also approved the overall borrowing limit of Rs 25,000 crore. "For achieving this SMFCL shall raise the fund from various bank and financial institutions and through bonds in accordance with the resource mobilization plan and start lending operations soon," it said. The corporation comes under Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways. It aims to bridge the financial gaps in the maritime sector,
Maritime security practitioners from 30 countries are set to assemble in India from November 3-5 as part of a key event that catalyses coordinated responses to transnational maritime threats such as piracy, drug smuggling and other incidents disrupting global maritime commerce. The Gurugram-based Information Fusion Centre-Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) will host the third edition of the Maritime Information Sharing Workshop (MISW) from November 3-5, officials said on Saturday. The workshop is a high-fidelity table-top exercise, simulating real-world maritime threats and fostering syndicate-based contingency planning, they said. The delegates will engage in collaborative response frameworks, reinforcing the value of shared situational awareness and coordinated action, the Indian Navy said in a statement. With the theme 'Enhancing Real-Time Coordination and Information Sharing Across the Indian Ocean Region', the MISW 2025 is poised to be a pivotal international platform dedicated to
The Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB) and private entity Gujarat Pipavav Port Ltd on Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for an investment of Rs 17,000 crore here with the aim to strengthen the maritime sector of Gujarat. Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and A P Moller-Maersk Board Chairman Robert Maersk Uggla were present on the occasion. Pipavav Port or APM Terminals Pipavav, partly owned by A P Moller-Maersk, is a major private port located near Rajula in Amreli district of Gujarat, while the GMB is a government agency that manages and regulates ports in the state. "The objective of this MoU is to further strengthen the maritime sector of Gujarat through the capacity expansion of Pipavav Port," stated an official release. This project will create about 25,000 direct and indirect employment opportunities, giving new impetus to the local economy and improving the standard of living in rural areas, it said. "It will increase the existing container, bulk, liquid and Ro-Ro
The India-ASEAN Comprehensive Strategic Partnership is emerging as a powerful foundation for global stability and growth, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday. In a virtual address at the India-ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) annual summit, Modi also said that the grouping is a key pillar of New Delhi's Act East Policy. "India has always fully supported 'ASEAN centrality' and ASEAN's outlook on the Indo-Pacific," he said. "Even in these times of uncertainty, the India-ASEAN Comprehensive Strategic Partnership has made steady progress. Our strong partnership is emerging as a powerful foundation for global stability and growth," Modi said. The prime minister said India has "stood firmly with its ASEAN friends" in every crisis and the two-way cooperation in the spheres of maritime security and the blue economy is growing rapidly. "In light of this, we are declaring 2026 as the ASEAN-India year of maritime cooperation," he announced. "We are also vigorously ...