Cabinet approves incorporation of Sagarmala Development company under Companies Act

New Delhi, July 20 The Cabinet on Wednesday approved the incorporation of Sagarmala Development Company (SDC) under the companies Act 2013, and said that it will be under the administrative control of the Shipping ministry.

The cabinet also said that the implementation of the identified projects will be taken up by the relevant ports, State Governments, Maritime Boards, Central Ministries, mainly through private or the Public Private Partnership mode.

The cabinet also said that the SDC will also work as the nodal agency for coordination and monitoring of all the currently identified projects as well as other projects emerging from the master plans or other sources.

The Sagarmala Programme was launched with the approval of the Union Cabinet on March 25th 2015, with a view to achieve the broad objective of promoting port-led economic development in India.

In order to harness India's 7,500 km long coastline, 14,500 km of potentially navigable waterways, and strategic location on key international maritime trade routes, the Government has embarked on the ambitious Sagarmala Programme which was approved by the Cabinet.

The cabinet also said that as part of the coastal community development objective of the Sagarmala Programme, the Shipping ministry is taking up a number of initiatives, including the coastal community skill projects and projects for development of marine fisheries sector.

"Skill development projects taken up' include coastal district skill gap analysis study/ cutting-edge skill training in the ports and maritime sector, safety training in ship-breaking and repair sector, coastal districts skill training as part of Deen Dayl Upadhyaya Grarneen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) and marine fishermen skill development projects," said the official statement.

According to the cabinet decision, the ministry of Shipping, in collaboration with the Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries, will part-fund select fishing harbour projects under the Sagarmala Programme.

"While identifying the projects, priority will be given to those projects which are nearing completion. The Shipping ministry is also preparing a coastal community development scheme, in convergence with the existing Central/State Government schemes," said the statement.

"One of the important roles assigned to SDC is to manage the coastal community development scheme and fund coastal community development projects identified under the Sagarmala Programme. The projects considered would be specific time-bound local interventions and innovative in nature," added the statement.

IANS