Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal today laid the foundation stone for several projects of the Visakhapatnam Port Authority and outlined the Centre’s vision to strengthen India’s maritime sector.
Addressing the gathering, the Union Minister stressed the need to develop world-class infrastructure for shipbuilding and ship repair.
Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s initiatives of Maritime India Vision 2030 and Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision 2047, the Union Minister said India aims to be among the top 10 shipbuilding nations by 2030 and among the top five by 2047.
Mr. Sonowal announced that an advanced Ship Technology Centre will be established in Visakhapatnam at a cost of 305 crore rupees, focusing on research and development, ship design and specialised education.
The Union Minister said a proposal is under consideration to establish a Port-cum-Shipbuilding and Ship Repair Cluster at Duggirajapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.
Mr. Sonowal credited Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu for his key role in advancing the proposal and praised the state government’s forward-looking maritime policy.
