Sagarmala project created nearly 10,000 jobs in last 3 years, says minister

Government on Monday said it has created about 10,000 jobs under its ambitious 'Sagarmala' initiative during the last three years. The Sagarmala programme is an initiative by the government of India to leverage the country's coastline and inland waterways to boost the logistics sector.

"Approximately 10,000 jobs have been created through projects initiated under Sagarmala by the ministry of shipping during the last three years," said Mansukh Mandaviya, the minister of state for shipping and chemical and fertilizers, in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha.

As of May 2019, 334 projects have been initiated across the country under this programme, the minister said.

The Sagarmala project is an amalgamation of various projects categorised into port-connectivity, freight expressways, new pipelines for transporting crude and petroleum products, development of prioritised inland waterways, new multi-modal logistics hubs and coastal community development.

The projects aim to accelerate port-led infrastructure development in the country that could create 1 crore new jobs, including 40 lakh direct jobs, in the next 10 years. 

Mandaviya further said that there has been an increase of 54 per cent in the cargo carried through coastal shipping and navigable waterways since the inception of the Sagarmala initiative.

The concept of Sagarmala was approved by the Union Cabinet on March 25, 2015. The Centre's Sagarmala programme aims 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.

Edited by Chitranjan Kumar

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