India and US Agree to Enhance Cooperation at Sea

Sputnik News

13:04 20.07.2016(updated 13:06 20.07.2016)

India and the US have agreed to strengthen their cooperation in the maritime sector during Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari's visit to the US.

NEW DELHI (Sputnik) – India and the United States have agreed to deepen the scope of their cooperation in the maritime sector with the American ports showing a keen interest in comprehensive port-led development, especially the Sagarmala project.

The program's 150 projects have the potential to attract $50-60 bln in infrastructure investment and another $100 bln in investments in related industrial growth.

Minister of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari held wide-ranging discussions with the representatives of the Harbor Department of the City of Long Beach in the US state of California. The city offered investment opportunities for building and developing new ports, constructing new terminals in exiting ports, creating a coastal economic zone, dredging, ship building, ship repairing, ship recycling, and the development of inland waterways and coastal and cruise shipping.

Nitin Gadkari said that the government has agreed to provide maritime clusters for associated industrial support and design centers, as well as financial assistance. These are expected to meet the challenges posed by the new facilities' lack of a competitive advantage, which he claims are caused by the heavy subsidies major shipbuilding countries provide to their ship construction industries.

Gadkari told the US maritime sector that thematic studies and action plans have been developed across the sector for implementation, prominent elements of which include a revolution in coastal shipping, industrial Greenfield plants along the coast, reducing the time it takes to export containers by five days and reducing the cost to export by $50 per container.

Gadkari, who was on a weeklong visit to the US, gained first-hand experience witnessing the latest techniques in road engineering, highway construction, road signage, and effective measures to enhance road safety along with safety along prestigious ocean routes.

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