India’s Blue Economy Priorities: Maritime Sector

Blue economy is an all-inclusive concept based on seas and shorelines. India has prioritized its blue economy policies, and maritime development (logistics, infrastructure and shipping) is one of them. For charting the nation’s growth, a regular review of global trends and India’s plans is imperative. The major drivers or focal areas will be decarbonization and digitalization. Increased costs due to transformations, including technology acceptances and investments in port development to improve productivity will be on predictable paths. Shipping route alternatives (Northern Sea route, Belt and Road Initiative, etc.) will be in the discourses. Digitalization measures such as Maritime Single Window, Port Community Systems, etc. will get traction. India needs to shift gears with its Sagarmala projects and keep pace with the global transformative changes, especially on the digital front. Based on its new National Logistics Policy, logistics costs as a large head need to be considered along with performance metrics. This article juxtaposes global trends and indices, and lists a few issues that India must address.