Riding on the blue economy

India's marine resources remain under-utilised

The government’s initiative to formulate a blue economy policy for the country is welcome even though this protocol should have been in place way back in 2015 after the adoption of the United Nations Social Development Goals (SDGs). “Conservation and sustainable use of the oceans, seas and marine resources for economic development” is the 14th of the 17 globally accepted SDGs to be met by 2030. This stipulation binds India to measurably enhance the contribution of ocean-based activities to its gross domestic product (GDP). Actually, the need for tapping these hitherto least-exploited marine resources has been recognised ever since the availability of land and other non-renewable terrestrial resources became a limiting factor in infrastructure and industrial expansion and economic growth. The blue economy policy draft, now put out for public comment, outlines the strategy to capitalise on the country’s enormous oceanic assets to boost GDP, besides achieving three other broad objectives — improving the lives of coastal communities, preserving marine biodiversity, and maintaining the security of marine areas and resources.

Constituting nearly two-thirds of the universe, oceans are highly dynamic, biologically active, and diverse production systems capable of serving as growth engines. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development reckons that, if managed prudently, the blue economy could outperform the regular economy in terms of growth, and generating income and employment. India is, however, a laggard in developing its blue economy despite being bestowed with copious marine wealth comprising over 7,500 km of coastline and over 2 million square km of exclusive economic zones. The infrastructure needed to harness the economic potential of marine resources extending across nine coastal states and 1,382 islands is insufficient for the task. Of about 200 ports, only 12 qualify to be called major. Their cargo-handling capacity is only around 1.4 billion tonnes a year. This infrastructure needs to be expanded substantially and revamped to meet the future challenges. The facilities to handle fisheries produce, practically the only purpose for which the seas have so far been used apart from navigation, are also limited. Though this year’s Budget proposes to set up five new major fishing harbours as hubs of marine-related economic activity, more would need to be done on this count in the proposed blue economy policy.

At present, marine fisheries are confined largely to coastal areas. The mid- and deep-sea zones remain dismally under-utilised. The new policy would have to incentivise the exploitation of fisheries resources of the deeper seas to meet the growing domestic and export demand. Also needed is greater emphasis on the exploration, extraction, and commercial utilisation of the copious mineral resources of the seas, which have so far remained almost untouched. Similar is the case of the crude oil and natural gas reserves in the offshore areas. The solar, wind, and wave energy potential of the territorial waters is also largely untapped. However, while boosting the blue economy, care would need to be taken to see that the livelihood of around 4 million fisherfolk is not adversely affected. Due caution would also need to be observed to stave off any clash between economic development and marine biodiversity. Any misadventure with marine ecology could prove costlier than the price being paid for impairing the Himalayan geology.