Why Sagarmala?

Presently, Indian ports handle more than 90% of India’s total EXIM trade volume. However, the current proportion of merchandize trade in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of India is only 42 per cent, whereas for some developed countries and regions in the world such as Germany and European Union, it is 75% and 70% respectively. Therefore, there is a great scope to increase the share of merchandising trade in India’s GDP.

• With the Union Government’s “Make in India” initiative, the share of merchandise trade in India’s GDP is expected to increase and approach levels achieved in developed countries. India lags far behind in ports and logistics infrastructure.
• Against a share of 9% of railways and 6% of roads in the GDP the share of ports is only 1 per cent. In addition, high logistics costs make Indian exports uncompetitive. Therefore, Sagarmala project has been envisioned to provide ports and the shipping the rightful place in the Indian economy and to enable port-led development.