Gadkari urges private innovation in India’s maritime sector

29 Oct 2025 CW Team

Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari addressed the India Maritime Week 2025 in Mumbai, highlighting the theme “Innovative Mechanisms for Ship Financing.”

Gadkari noted that India’s maritime sector, valued at nearly USD 1 trillion (Rs 84 trillion), presents vast investment opportunities across ports, shipping, and logistics. Drawing on his ministry’s success in attracting private capital, he emphasised that similar financial models could transform the maritime industry.

Under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), around Rs 1.4 trillion was mobilised through Toll Operate Transfer (ToT), Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs), and Public-Private Partnership (PPP) frameworks. These mechanisms helped raise private participation from 10 per cent to 35 per cent, improving efficiency, accelerating project completion, and reducing fiscal pressure on the government.

Gadkari suggested that such approaches could boost project execution, enhance quality, and encourage private innovation in the maritime space.

He also unveiled the CMEG (RIS) – India Maritime Report 2025–26, titled “Uniting Oceans, One Maritime Vision: India’s Maritime Strides.”

The minister commended Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal for advancing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Sagarmala 2.0 vision, which seeks to strengthen shipbuilding, ship repair and recycling, port efficiency, coastal economies, and inland waterways.

Gadkari concluded that with transparent governance, private innovation, and time-bound execution, India can build global confidence in its maritime leadership and position itself as a competitive force in global trade.

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