Coast Connect Workshop 2026, Gujarat

Shri Shyam Jagannathan, I.A.S, Director General of Maritime Administration (DGMA), delivered the inaugural address at the Coast Connect Workshop, 2026 , a Workshop on the Coastal Shipping Act, 2025 hosted by the Gujarat Maritime University (GMU) in Gandhinagar on 22nd August 2026. The workshop brought together stakeholders to align Gujarat's maritime priorities with national frameworks such as Maritime India Vision 2030 and Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision 2047. DG(MA) noted the growing role of private and non-major ports in India's cargo story Mundra now outpaces Kandla, and Sikka handles crude and product volumes at a scale government port alone could not match , underscoring the need for port development to be a true Centre-State-industry partnership. He called on GMU to deepen its association with ship recycling, an area where India leads globally, pointing to significant scope for academic collaboration on regulation, standardisation, training and certification for the sector's workforce. On Alang's welfare infrastructure, he flagged that 60–65% of the workforce is migratory and seasonal, and called for stronger provisions crèches, anganwadis, nutritional support and hospital facilities backed by dedicated development funds, alongside green steel standards to enable rolling mill capacity and carbon sequestration. On decarbonisation, he outlined the National Maritime Decarbonization Framework's eight pillars, including green ports and green ships, and reaffirmed India's IMO stance favouring a net-zero pathway built on global consensus and Common but Differentiated Responsibilities (CBDR-RC). The workshop reaffirmed DGMA's commitment to strengthening Centre-State-academia partnerships in charting a sustainable, self-reliant course for India's coastal shipping future.