Murmu stressed the need to overcome challenges, including addressing infrastructural of country's ports,
"We, of course, also lacked the economic and industrial resources to fully establish a strong maritime presence", the president said.
President Droupadi Murmu addressing the convocation ceremony (Photo: Dailythanthi)
CHENNAI: President Droupadi Murmu on Friday stressed upon the need to overcome several challenges, including addressing infrastructural and operational challenges of the country’s ports, before it could fully exploit the maritime potential.
Speaking at the 8th convocation of the Indian Maritime University (IMU), Chennai, she expressed concern that India has become more focused on continental development after colonial rule, she pointed out that the country has forgotten that the continental development and maritime development are mutually complementary.
The President said, “We will have to overcome several challenges. For example, a lot of container ship cargo is diverted to nearby foreign ports due to depth restrictions. In the merchant and civilian shipbuilding industry, we need to aim for the highest standards of efficiency, efficacy and competitiveness.”
“The operational efficiency and turnaround time of Indian ports need to match the global average benchmarks,” she added.
Pointing out that the country does not figure in the top 20 nations on annual port calls, the President said, “in the list of 50 best container ports worldwide, we only have two.”
She said that the third edition of the Global Maritime India Summit, earlier this month, attracted Rs 10 lakh crore investment, which will help to achieve the ‘Amrit Kaal Vision 2047.’ “Moreover, the Government of India was working to realise its vision of Ports for Prosperity and Ports for Progress,” she added. “One of the gravest challenges of our time is climate catastrophe, which includes rising temperatures and sea levels and the maritime sector needs to be agile, proactive and swift in adaptation and mitigation of climate change which risks disrupting livelihoods, particularly among vulnerable communities,” she cautioned.
“Following the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the Moon’s South Pole, we are now preparing for mission ‘Samudrayaan,’ a groundbreaking journey to explore 6,000-metre deep ocean waters and to study deep sea resources,” Murmu said.
Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal spoke on the need to enhance maritime resources and education.