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Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal has said that India has made significant strides in the global maritime arena and the country will soon become a world leader in the key sector. He highlighted the importance of port-led industrialisation in employment generation and overall development. Port-led industrialisation is a strategic approach that aims to optimise logistic cost by strategically placing industries in close proximity to ports. On one hand, it directly contributes to an increase in port traffic, on the other it also serves as a catalyst for significant employment generation.

The minister said PM Gati Shakti Masterplan for Multimodal Connectivity and National Logistics Policy have vastly improved the logistic road map of the nation and assisted in speedy port-led industrialisation and urban development. Major ports have also undertaken an exercise of industrialising the land available with them. A total of 8,000 acres of land at major ports has been developed for industrialisation with potential to generate more than 2 lakhs direct and indirect employment opportunities.

He further said India is looking at increasing it exports 15-fold to $7.5 trillion in the next 23 years,. He said 'our aim under the maritime 'Amrit Kaal Vision 2047' is ambitious -- to boost our exports 15-fold to $7.5 trillion. We aim to enhance our port capacity to handle approximately 10,000 million tonnes annually, a six-fold increase from the current levels.'