Calling the Shipping Ministry's flagship Sagarmala project a game-changer for India, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant on Friday said that port-led development can help achieve double-digit growth rate for the country.Kant's remarks came during Shipping Ministry's workshop titled "Accelerating Sagarmala Implementation - Engaging with States" which aimed at enhancing the ministry's engagement with other ministries and various maritime states for implementation of the project.In his address, he said that ports can "act as the catalyst of growth and help in achieving 10 per cent consistent growth rate for the country", a Shipping Ministry statement said.Giving examples of success stories of China, Korea, Japan and Singapore, where the ports have led the country's growth strategy, Kant said there is a need for an export focused strategy and conglomeration of all the stakeholders for proper execution of the Sagarmala programme. "For India to increase its current growth rate, it's essential to penetrate the global markets which only ports can drive," he said adding that optimum utilisation of available resources was the need of the hour.
For Indian goods to be at par with global markets, the logistic costs need to be reduced and that will be possible if ports become the manufacturing hubs, he added. Kant also reiterated the potential of cruise tourism in India and appealed to all the coastal states to work towards promoting the same.Shipping Secretary Rajive Kumar called out for active participation from the state authorities for execution of the projects under the programme."The Sagarmala programme has moved from planning to implementation stage and three key areas where states can take up projects is connectivity enhancement, development of cruise ships and promotion of coastal shipping," he said.During the workshop, special sessions were held on development of coastal community and port-rail connectivity.The first of a series of workshops to be held over the next six to eight months, the event aimed at creating awareness about the Sagarmala programme among the stakeholders.