Mumbai: India is increasingly moving towards maximising its activities in water transport and strengthening its blue economy. Work in this direction has already started by introducing policies as well as finding other ways to boost water related businesses. It is after decades of neglect, that both ports and coastal development are being looked at as a growth multiplier — for income, for jobs and for economic growth.

The Free Press Journal decided to explore this territory, and highlight the achievements, opportunities and challenges that lie ahead. It is doing so with its conference on ‘India’s Coastline – Engine and Wheel of Economic Growth’ which will be held in Mumbai, on October 22 from 2.30 pm onwards.

Union minister for Road Transport Highways & Shipping & Water Resources, River Development, & Ganga Rejuvenation, Nitin Gadkari will be the chief guest and keynote speaker at the event. This conference will be divided into panel discussions which will take place before the keynote address by Gadkari.

In the first panel ‘Economic resurgence through ports’, names (in alphabetic order) like Rajiv Agarwal, CEO and MD, Essar Ports; Neeraj Bansal, IRS, Chairman, JNPT; Sanjay Bhatia, IAS, Chairman, Mumbai Port Trust; and Sandeep Mehta, President, Adani Ports & SEZ, will talk about ports and the way they are shaping the economy activities in their respective regions.

The next discussion titled ‘Unlocking the potential of coasts’ would be around coastal shipping and other activities-related to ports. Panelists for this discussion would be (in alphabetic order) Anoop Kumar Agrawal, MD, IPRCL; Anil Devli, CEO, Indian National Shipowners’ Association; Sanjay Gupta SVP (Shipping) Petronet LNG Limited; and Anoop Kumar Sharma, CMD, The Shipping Corporation of India. These two panels will raise issues and laud efforts undertaken to strength the port and coast sectors.