India and global community need to use benefits of blue economy inefficient way

He further said that this needs to be backed by the goal of achieving an all-inclusive and sustainable development, which is possible through fostering and developing blue growth in the country.

Mr. V Muraleedharan, Minister of State for External Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs, Govt of India, today acknowledged that a Ministry of Blue Economy is inevitable going by the importance it has for economic growth.

Speaking at the launch report of ‘Blue Economy – Global Best Practices: Takeaways for India and Partner Nations’, organised by FICCI, jointly with Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS), Mr. Muraleedharan said, “Prime Minister has the vision of making India a $5 trillion economy by 2024. The responsible development of Blue Economy forms a cornerstone to the realization of the vision for New India. Government for the first time created a separate Ministry for fisheries. This is the first step in creating the Ministry for Blue Economy, I think sooner or later it will come into effect.”

He further said that this needs to be backed by the goal of achieving an all-inclusive and sustainable development, which is possible through fostering and developing blue growth in the country.

Mr. Muraleedharan added that Blue Economy is one of the most important areas of cooperation where countries of South Asia, Pacific Island Developing and the West, have developed national strategies and maritime agendas to develop Blue Economy. We need to learn from global best practices to harness the resources for economic and social development in a sustainable manner, he said.

Mr. Muraleedharan highlighting the importance of Blue Economy said India and the international community need to leverage the benefits of the blue economy inefficient way. “The success will lie in connecting the dots for economic prosperity while preserving common ocean wealth and heritage for future generations,” he said.

Dr. Jyotsna Suri, Past President, FICCI, said, “Oceans are the next frontier of global growth. The benefits of Blue Economy to India are immense as India has a coastline of over 7500 kms. With this huge coastline, the sky is the limit.”

Amb Rajiv Bhatia, Chair, FICCI Core Group on Blue Economy, said, “Informed and purposeful pro-activism is needed to assist our coastal states with best global practices in technology, management, and investments. FICCI has the role to be the bridge builder between sources of foreign technology and those who need it in the Indian coastal areas.  

FICCI-KAS report on ‘Blue Economy – Global Best Practices’ was also released during the event.