‘Samudra se Samruddhi’: PM Modi lays foundation for projects worth Rs 34,200 crore, calls for self-reliance

‘Samudra se Samruddhi’: PM Modi lays foundation for projects worth Rs 34,200 crore, calls for self-reliance

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday emphasised that India’s main adversary is its dependence on other nations, making a strong pitch for “aatmanirbharta” and indigenous production of everything from semiconductor chips to ships.

Speaking at the ‘Samudra se Samruddhi’ event, where he inaugurated and laid the foundation stones of projects worth Rs 34,200 crore, PM Modi said all the problems of India have only one solution, and that is self-reliance.

“India is moving forward with the spirit of global brotherhood and India has no major enemy in the world today, but in true terms, India’s biggest adversary is dependence on other nations,” the Prime Minister said, emphasising that this dependence must be collectively defeated.

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He added, “Greater foreign dependence leads to greater national failure. For global peace, stability, and prosperity, the world’s most populous country must become self-reliant,” and cautioned that reliance on others compromises national self-respect.

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Focus on domestic shipping and manufacturing

PM Modi highlighted India’s maritime sector as a key example of past policy failures. “Ships built in India’s coastal states once powered domestic and global trade. Even fifty years ago, India used domestically built ships, with over 40 percent of its import-export conducted through them. Till 50 years ago, our trade was carried out by 40 per cent ships made in India, but this has now come down to just 5 per cent,” he said.

He added, “Can people imagine how much money has been paid in freight to other countries over the past seven decades? This outflow of funds has created millions of jobs abroad. If even a small portion of this expenditure had been invested by earlier governments in the domestic shipping industry, the world would have been using Indian ships today, and India would have been earning lakh of crores in shipping services.”

“Chips (semiconductor chips) or ships, we must make them in India,” PM Modi said, adding that domestic ports are the backbone of India’s rise as a global maritime powerhouse.

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Maritime reforms and investment push

The PM announced a series of reforms to simplify trade and boost the sector: “From today, all major ports in the country will be freed from multiple documents and fragmented processes. The implementation of ‘One Nation, One Document’ and ‘One Nation, One Port’ Process will simplify trade and commerce.”

He said five maritime laws have been introduced in a new form and that ship-building companies will now benefit from infrastructure status, easing access to loans and reducing interest rates. 

PM Modi also announced three major schemes to make India a global maritime power, with over Rs 70,000 crore planned for investment in shipbuilding and technological upgrades.

During the visit, PM Modi inaugurated and laid the foundation stone for maritime development projects worth more than Rs 7,870 crore and additional projects across sectors in Gujarat worth over Rs 26,354 crore. He also conducted an aerial survey of the Dholera Special Investment Region and reviewed the under-construction National Maritime Heritage Complex at Lothal. Earlier in the morning, the prime minister participated in a roadshow in Bhavnagar.

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