To give a push to port-led economic development under its ambitious Sagarmala project, the government today approved incorporation of Sagarmala Development Company under the Companies Act with Rs 1,000 crore as initial authorised share capital.
"The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the incorporation of Sagarmala Development Company (SDC) under the Companies Act, 2013," an official statement said.
Sagarmala Development Company (SDC) will provide equity support to the project Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) and funding support to the residual projects under the Sagarmala Programme, the Ministry of Shipping said in the statement.
"SDC will be incorporated under the Companies Act, 2013, with an initial Authorized Share Capital of Rs 1,000 crore and a Subscribed Share Capital of Rs 90 crore," the statement said.
SDC will be under the administrative control of the Ministry of Shipping.
The government said identified projects will be implemented by relevant ports, state governments / maritime boards and central ministries, mainly through private or PPP (public private partnership) mode.
It said SDC will Identify port-led development projects and assist the project SPVs in project development and structuring activities, bidding out projects for private sector participation, putting in place suitable risk management measures for strategic projects cutting across multiple states / regions and obtaining requisite approvals and clearances.
Since the Identified projects will be undertaken by multiple agencies, SDC will also work as the nodal agency for coordination and monitoring of all the currently identified projects as well as other projects emerging from the master plans or other sources.
"SDC will undertake the preparation of the detailed master plans for the Coastal Economic Zones (CEZs) identified as part of the NPP and provide a framework for ensuring the integrated development of Indian maritime sector," the statement said.
As part of the coastal community development objective of the Sagarmala Programme, the Ministry of Shipping is taking up a number of initiatives/projects including coastal community skill projects and projects for development of marine fisheries sector.
One of the important roles assigned to SDC is to manage the coastal community development scheme and fund coastal community development projects identified under the Sagarmala Programme.
"SDC will be raising funds as debt/equity (as long term capital), as per the project requirements/ by leveraging resources provided by the Government of India and from multi-lateral and bilateral funding agencies. SDC will also aim to increase the scope of private sector participation in project development," the statement said.
Sagarmala is an ambitious project for port-led economic development of India's 7,500 km coastline areas.
The prrogramme was launched last year 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.
As part of the programme, a National Perspective Plan (NPP) for the comprehensive development of the coastline and maritime sector has been prepared.
The NPP has identified more than 150 projects across the areas of port modernization & new port development, port connectivity enhancement, port-led industrialization and coastal community development.
