India should take big strides in shipbuilding: Narendra Modi

India should take a lead in shipbuilding given the increase in the global trade via sea-route, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the foundation stones laying function of Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and Port Connectivity Road at Sheva, in Navi Mumbai on August 16, 2014.
 
Stating that shipbuilding is now a big opportunity, the Prime Minister said his government will encourage foreign investment in shipbuilding. Noting the strides that South Korea has taken in shipbuilding, Modi said India should also try to do so.
 
Addressing a large public gathering at the function site, the Prime Minister said his Government had conceived Sagarmala, an ambitious project for maritime states. This would envisage not merely port development, but port-led development which would include ports, SEZs; and rail, road, air and waterway connectivity with the hinterland, including linkages of cold storage and warehousing facilities. Noting that two-third of all global trade, and 50 percent of container trade happens through the Indian Ocean, Modi highlighted the importance of the ports sector. Ports can become gateways to India’s prosperity, he added.
 
The Prime Minister said the government is concerned at the large number of stalled SEZ projects across the country, and a high-level team has been constituted to review the problems and resolve them at the earliest.
 
Emphasising on the need to focus on export promotion, he said, “Until we join manufacturers in export promotion, and unless states and centre work together, we cannot achieve new heights in exports.” Modi added that the Union Government had recently convened a meeting with states to understand bottlenecks in exports, and states would soon be given the right to form their own Export Promotion Councils.