The defence secretary, Dr. Ajay Kumar, today while commissioning two of the Indian Coast Guard’s (ICG) fast patrol vessels (FPVs), Annie Besant and Amrit Kaur manufactured by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE), said that “India is looking at a 250 billion dollars maritime economy by 2024.”
India’s exclusive economic zone in the seas along its 7,500 kilometre coastline comprises over 2 million square kilometres. ICG has been further strengthened by providing legal powers for visiting, boarding, searching and seizing vessels in the country’s waters.
The commissioning of the ships was conducted at the GRSE. With a target of becoming a five trillion dollar economy by 2024, over 250 billion dollars will be coming from the maritime zone. The responsibility of the Indian Coast Guard is to protect this billion dollar economy. The maritime economy constitutes nearly five per cent of the world economy.