India's maritime sector projected to attract Rs 80 lakh cr investment in coming years: Sonowal
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Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): Union Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Saturday said India's maritime sector was projected to attract investments worth over Rs 80 lakh crore in the coming years which will help the country regain its nautical supremacy.
According to Sonowal, in 2025, the maritime sector attracted over Rs 12 lakh crore investment and in coming years it will increase to Rs 80 lakh crore and generate over 1.5 crore jobs.
"As a result of this investment, India's long lost maritime supremacy will be regained and we shall be the global maritime leaders once again," he said at the inaugural ceremony of Vizhinjam port's second phase of development.
The minister said once the second phase of development is completed, Vizhinjam port will transform into "a regional transshipment hub of global significance".
Sonowal also highlighted the "remarkable operational performance" demonstrated by the port in the short span since its dedication to the nation in May last year.
The Union Shipping Minister further said under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the maritime sector in India, in the last decade, "has witnessed unprecedented progress" with manifold increase in the number of shipyards, maritime cruise passengers, cruise sectors, cargo movement on inland waterways and the number of operational waterways in the country.
He said that the impact of this progress has been seen on the ground as according to the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) and the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), India's logistics costs are approximately 7.97 per cent of GDP for 2023-24, "a clear improvement from earlier levels".
"Kerala occupies a very special place in this national maritime transformation," the union minister said.
With world class ports, modern shipping, strong ship building and vibrant inland waterways, Kerala was "well positioned to play a leadership role in India's maritime future", he said.
The union minister also expressed confidence that Vizhinjam seaport along with the maritime ecosystem being developed in Kerala will generate employment, boost trade, empower coastal communities and strengthen India's position in the global supplies chain.
Sonowal said Kerala was currently implementing 56 Sagarmala-related projects with a total investment of over Rs 24,000 crore and of them 20 worth Rs 5,300 crore, have already been completed and the remaining 36 valued at Rs 18,700 crore were in various stages of implementation.
He also noted that the Cochin Port Authority and the Cochin Shipyard Ltd were playing a pivotal role in strengthening the maritime ecosystem in Kerala.
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Can't say when I'll return to India; legally barred from leaving UK: Mallya to Bombay HC
Mumbai (PTI): Fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya, facing multiple cases of fraud and money laundering, told the Bombay High Court on Wednesday that he cannot say when he will return to India as he is legally barred from leaving the UK.
In a statement submitted through his counsel Amit Desai to the high court, Mallya said he did not have an active passport after it was revoked and hence, he cannot give a definite date of return to India.
The statement was submitted after a bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad made it clear last week that it would not hear Mallya's plea against the order declaring a fugitive economic offender until he returns to India.
The court had then asked the former liquor to clarify whether or not he intended to return to India.
Mallya, based in the United Kingdom since 2016, has filed two petitions in the HC -- one challenging an order declaring him a fugitive economic offender and the other questioning the constitutional validity of the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act.
The 70-year-old liquor baron is accused of defaulting on multiple loan repayments of several thousand crores and facing money laundering charges.
The businessman, in his statement to HC, said he cannot give a definite date for his return as he does not have his Indian passport, which was revoked by the government in 2016, and also because there are orders of courts in England and Wales that prohibit him from leaving the country.
"Mallya is not permitted to leave or attempt to leave England and Wales or apply for or be in possession of any international travel document. In any event, the petitioner is unable to precisely state when he will return to India," Desai read out the statement in the court.
The senior counsel reiterated that Mallya's presence was not required in the country for the court to hear his pleas against the fugitive tag and the provisions of the Act.
"If he (Mallya) were to appear in India, then all these proceedings would be rendered irrelevant as the statute says that once the offender appears in the concerned court of law, then all these orders would be set aside," Desai told the court.
The bench directed the Union government to file its reply to Mallya's statement and posted the matter for further hearing next month.
Mallya was declared a Fugitive Economic Offender in January 2019 by a special court hearing cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The businessman left India in March 2016.
