Page 30 - 30NOV2019EA

It’s the Blue Economy in

India that is picking up fast!

Its six priority pillars —Fisheries and Aquaculture, Renewable Ocean Energy, Seaports and
Shipping; Offshore Hydrocarbons, Seabed Minerals and Marine Biotechnology — are doing
extremely well, reports tehelka bureau

hile the government has kaiah Naidu has urged scientists to come convert sea water into portable water, he
reacted to Moody’s rat- up with innovative solutions to conserve said there was a need to ensure that such
ing for India from “sta- water resources and tackle problems like technologies were cost effective.
ble” to “negative” saying climate change and pollution. Talking about the importance of Blue
W that India continues Inaugurating the silver jubilee cel- economy in the overall progress of the
to be among the fastest growing major ebrations of National Institute of Ocean nation, the Vice President expressed
economies in the world, it is the Blue Technology (NIOT) on November 8, 2019, happiness that NIOT was working on six
economy that is giving necessary boost the Vice President said technology was priority pillars of blue economy, includ-
to economy. needed for protection of coastal areas ing Fisheries and Aquaculture, Renew-
The six priority pillars of blue econ- from negative impacts of climate change able Ocean Energy, Seaports and Ship-
omy, including Fisheries and Aquacul- and for development of blue coastal ping; Offshore Hydrocarbons, Seabed
ture, Renewable Ocean Energy, Seaports infrastructure for the benefit of soci- Minerals, and Marine Biotechnology.
and Shipping; Offshore Hydrocarbons, ety. While lauding NIOT for developing The Vice President pointed out that blue
Seabed Minerals, and Marine Biotech- technologies like desalination plant to economy includes intangible economic
nology were doing very well. The Blue
economy includes intangible economic
benefits such as carbon sequestration,
coastal protection, cultural values and
biodiversity.
Little doubt that the International
Monetary Fund in its latest World Eco-
nomic Outlook has stated that Indian
Economy is set to grow at 6.1 per cent
in 2019, picking up to 7 per cent in 2020.
The Government has undertaken series
of financial sector and other reforms to
strengthen the economy as a whole.
The Government of India has also
proactively taken policy decisions in
response to the global slowdown. These
measures would lead to a positive out-
look on India and would attract capital
flows and stimulate investments. The
fundamentals of the economy remain
quite robust with inflation under check
and bond yields low. India continues to
offer strong prospects of growth in near
and medium term.
How much significance government
attaches to Blue economy would be clear
from the fact that Vice President M. Ven-

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