The Indian maritime sector is undergoing a phase of metamorphosis.  The recent initiatives ushered in by the government instil a sense of hope that the Indian maritime scenario would change for the better.  An important endeavour among such initiatives is the Maritime India Vision (MIV) 2030.  It lays the roadmap for the future of the Indian maritime sector for the next 10 years. Launched at the Maritime India Summit 2021, it envisions a set of ten thrust areas that shall enable the establishment of a prosperous and sustainable Indian maritime sector.

The MIV 2030 aims to strengthen port infrastructure and attract a greater share of the global export-import trade majorly through ten-year traffic projections across commodities. The commodity-wise cargo projections include entities such as petroleum, oil and lubricants (POL), liquefied natural gas (LNG), coal, iron-ore, cement, steel, and fertilisers.

Whilst the focus lies on the development of port infrastructure (such as widening of berths, deepening of port’s draft, conversion of existing berths to handle new commodities, etc.) and cargo handling capabilities of the ports, it would have been beneficial if the MIV 2030 would have also envisioned the nuances concerning the development of supporting infrastructure around the ports.  To elucidate, ports are usually located in isolated places where access to basic civic facilities (such as hospitals, schools, community centres, law-and-order maintenance infrastructure, etc.) need to be developed in a comprehensive manner.  In order to buttress this point, the recent announcement by the Honourable Prime Minister to develop Great Nicobar as a transhipment hub presents a handy case. Great Nicobar is located in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands which is quite far from mainland India.  The development of a transhipment hub, in Greater Nicobar, shall be much more comprehensive when supporting infrastructure (such as the ones mentioned above) shall be established along with the port infrastructure.  This would greatly enhance the overall work efficiency of the port personnel as they can comfortably reside, along with their families, near the port(s).

The MIV 2030 lays down several measures that will be utilised in order to enhance the overall ship repairing, shipbuilding and ship recycling capabilities of the domestic shipping industry.  It deliberates about leveraging Atmanirbhar Bharat PPP (Public- Private Partnership) provisions efficiently for providing necessary regulatory as well as financial incentives for the manufacture of inland vessels, coastal and offshore vessels, port crafts and small dredgers.

Considering the present circumstances, COVID-19 pandemic has posed novel challenges for the ship recycling industry.  In 2021, it had come to light that the ship recycling industry had come to a standstill after industrial-grade oxygen, used for cutting big blocks of iron and steel (of ships getting scrapped at Alang), has been diverted to hospitals for treatment of patients.  In the current milieu, this is a welcome step.  However, the labour-intensive that the ship recycling industry is, will adversely impact the workers/personnel engaged in the industry.

The last chapter of the MIV 2030 lays emphasis on enhancing capacity and improving capability of the professionals working in the Indian maritime sector.  It lays the blueprint for promoting research and innovation by establishing innovation labs, maritime knowledge clusters, promoting maritime education (including study of maritime laws) and training by improving the existing curricula in different maritime education institutions.

Whilst the blueprint for augmenting maritime academics and training encapsulates domestic universities and foreign universities within its fold, an important component that merits deliberation under the aegis of this theme is that of strategic maritime research, advocacy and convening.  This component is vital for furthering the aims and objectives of maritime India in multifarious sub-sectors ranging from blue economy and climate change to hard security (maritime) and international maritime laws.

Initiatives to further augment the capabilities of maritime educational institutes by collaborating with foreign universities are certainly commendable.  However, the methodology best suited to gain optimal output from such collaborations is through maritime-centric strategic research, advocacy and convening.

It would be safe to say that it would have been better if the MIV 2030 were drafted in a reader-friendly way i.e. the technical terms and concepts (graphs, projections and notations) that are encapsulated within it should have been put forth in a more simplified manner. Whilst the coverage of the report is quite comprehensive, its comprehension is quite a cumbersome process.

Marex Media