AP Maritime Board to foster industrial growth

Amaravati: The state Government established A.P. Maritime Board, and released orders on Friday through GO Ms No 111 by Rajat Bhargava, Principal Secretary, Industries, Infrastructure, Investments and Ports.

The headquarters of the board will be located at Visakhapatnam. A person to be nominated by the government will act as Chairman for the board. Principal Secretary, Industries and Ports is the Vice-Chairman. The secretaries of Fisheries, Finance are members. Apart from them, members to be appointed from private ports in the state, Union Ministry of Shipping, Central Board of Excise and Customs, any other secretary nominated by the state government. The Chief Executive Officer will be the member secretary for the board. In addition to that, there will be four special invitees, including a representative of Indian Navy, Indian Coast Guard, Industry Associations and in charge of coastal police.

In addition to that, the board will elect two independent experts from the relevant fields.

Andhra Pradesh has a natural advantage to foster an industrial ecosystem given the trove of natural resources, a long coastline, skilled manpower, Rajat Bhargava explained in a statement, after releasing the GO.

The state is also strategically located close to domestic consumption centres such as Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam and Mumbai. The long coastline of 974 km enables the state to act as a gateway to South-East Asian market.

Besides one major port, administered under the Major Port Trusts Act, i.e. Visakhapatnam port, the state has so far declared 14 non-major ports for development, administered by the Director of Ports, Government of Andhra Pradesh (GoAP). The State is committed to set up more ports and ensure an increase in trade and commerce.

There is a need for a focused approach for the State to increase its share in export and import trade by modernizing existing minor ports, developing new ones and port-based industries and related infrastructure to obtain a leading position in global maritime trade along the coastal corridor.

In this context, setting up a dedicated and autonomous entity in the form of Maritime Board will help in managing the development of all port and shipping related projects in the State leading to fast track growth of the maritime sector.

The several Coastal States in India like Gujarat, Maharashtra has already established Maritime Boards. Globally, several countries like Singapore, Australia have established Boards, Authorities or Committees as apex bodies for port and coastal development. Government of AP has studied models of these countries to adopt best practices in the State, Rajat Bhargava informed.

The Government notified the establishment of AP Maritime Board, to provide for rapid development of Port sector and for the overall development of Hinterland and offshore areas connected to the port-use and industrialisation in Port areas in the state.