Two days of the first ever Maritime India Summit from 14-16 April in Mumbai has resulted in attracting investments worth Rs 82,905 crores. A total of 141 MoUs and Business Agreements were signed by various players in maritime sector including Major Ports, State Maritime Boards and PSUs like Shipping Corporation of India, Cochin Shipyard Limited, Inland Waterways Authority of India etc.

Projects for which agreements have been signed cover a wide spectrum of activities including

• Modernisation of existing ports and establishment of new ones.
• Development and extension of Inland Waterways.
• Enhancement of cargo handling capacity of Indian ports.
• Improving hinterland connectivity of ports through road and rail network.
• Upgradation of educational and training facilities for maritime sector.

One major agreement relates to establishment of a green field port at Vadhavan, Maharashtra. Phase – I of the Project is estimated to be around Rs 9167 crores. An MoU for the project was signed between Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust and Maharashtra Maritime Board.

To give boost to inland water transport, Government of Andhra Pradesh entered into an MoU with Inland Waterways Authority of India for development of National Waterway 4 at estimated cost of around Rs 3000 crs. Once developed, this waterway will help take off roads significant portion of cargo traffic. Mr Chandrababu Naidu, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh was present on the occasion.

Gujarat Maritime Board entered into an MoU with Shapoorji Pallonji Company for development of a new LNG Terminal costing around Rs 5411 crs at Chara. GMB will also ink an MoU with IL&FS for setting up a Maritime Services Cluster at GIFT City, Gandhinagar.

Visakhapatnam Port Trust signed an MoU with HPCL who plan to increase the capacity of Visakha Refinery from 7.50MMT to 15MMT at an estimated cost of Rs 18412 cr. Shipping Corporation of India also signed a slew of agreements to enhance shipping capacity both inland as well international.

Indian Maritime University, the premier institution engaged in education and training of maritime personnel signed MoUs with 4 international institutions including Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Maritime University (BSMRMU), Dhaka, Bangladesh; Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers (ICS) and Plymouth University, U.K and Admiral G.I. Nevelskoi Maritime State University (AGINMSU), Vladivostok, Russia. IMU also entered into an MoU with Andaman & Nicobar administration for establishment of training facilities in A& N Islands.