Amit Shah Unveils Vision To Make India A Global Maritime Powerhouse

• Home Minister Amit Shah announced plans to expand port handling capacity to 10,000 million metric tonnes annually and make India one of the world’s top five shipbuilding nations.
• The government is building mega ports like Vadhavan ($10 Billion) and the Great Nicobar Project ($5 Billion), alongside a $200 Million dry dock in Cochin and a maritime heritage complex in Gujarat.
• Shah inaugurated two deep-sea fishing boats under PM Matsya Sampada Yojana, pledging 200 boats in five years to strengthen fishermen cooperatives and enhance India’s fisheries potential.

Home minister Amit Shah announced that the union government was planning to reach a port handling capacity of 10,000 million metric tonnes a year and position India within the top five nations of the world in the shipbuilding sector.

"Our target is to emerge among the world's top five ship building nations and therefore we are constructing new mega and deep draft ports…We have finalised the road map to link the maritime industry with the world industry", Shah stated while inaugurating the India Maritime Week 2025 at Mumbai's NESCO Exhibition Centre.

Home minister added that flagship programmes like SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region), 'SagarMala', 'Blue Economy', and the Green Maritime Vision were all directed at improving port infrastructure, encouraging environmental sustainability, and improving regional cooperation.

"We have made port transport digital, and have linked up with significant connectivity projects including the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, Eastern Maritime Corridor, and the North-South Transport Corridor. We have doubled our yearly budget six times from $40 million to $230 million. We are building the Great Nicobar Project at a cost of $5 billion, which will enhance the country's maritime business to manyfold", the union home minister said.

Shah informed that the government was constructing the largest dry dock in Cochin shipyard at an investment of $200 million and also constructing the maritime heritage complex in Gujarat, for which reforms had been introduced in accordance with international legislations. During the last one decade, India had registered 118 percent increase in coastal security and 150 percent increase in handling of cargo, he added.

"By investing another $10 billion, we are building the Vadhavan port in Mumbai, one of the five largest ports in the world from the day it begins operation", said the home minister.

"Bharat is working towards becoming a global maritime power through a series of strategic and future-looking decisions", Shah emphasized. The government was looking towards a green maritime future which would not only accelerate development but also have an environmental equilibrium, he added.

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"Bharat has not taken it in vain that there are small islands and many nations of the global south living from the sea. Climate change has become an issue of their survival in light of this fact, Bharat and the world wish to build an ocean which is green, prosperous and accessible to all", Shah added.

The shipping industry would be a key driver in increasing India's global influence in trade and logistics, the home minister said. He was joined by union minister of ports, shipping and waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal; and minister of state for ports, shipping and waterways, Shantanu Thakur.The chief ministers of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa and Odisha attended the inaugural day of the India Maritime Week on Monday.

Besides them, 12 foreign ministers, seven union ministers, and ministers from 16 states will attend the event, wherein 680 memorandums of understanding (MoUs) that have an investment potential of Rs 10 lakh crore are expected to be signed, creating 700,000 job opportunities. Approximately 500 companies and 100,000 delegates will attend the five-day event.

Union home minister Amit Shah inaugurated two deep-sea fishing boats at the Mazgaon dock and handed them over to fishermen's cooperatives under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojna (PMMSY). Cooperative movements have been instrumental in bringing good times to the dairy and sugar sectors throughout the nation and the state, and such an ecosystem based on cooperative principles would be established in the fisheries sector within the next five years, he asserted."Under the PMMSY, 14 boats would be handed over to cooperative societies across the state. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has promised to launch at least 200 boats into the sea over the next five years", Shah said.

The initiative would be highly advantageous for fishermen in the near future because it would directly help them and boost the country's fisheries potential. Shah explained that every boat would be capable of remaining out at sea for 25 days, and would have the capacity to catch up to 20 tonnes of fish. An even larger boat would be used to gather fish off the boats and take it ashore. "The revenues from these ventures will flow directly into the fishermen's hands, enhancing their economic status. India's 1,199-km-long coastline is full of potential, and the central government wants to make this potential reach as many fishermen as possible", he said.