India expands maritime economy with cruise tourism drive and massive port capacity boost

India is leveraging its 7,500 km coastline and more than 200 ports to develop a larger maritime economy. Under initiatives such as Maritime India Vision 2030, Sagarmala and the Cruise Bharat Mission, the government aims to transform cruise tourism into a major pillar of the blue economy, promoting floating‑city experiences and creating jobs in hospitality, transport and retail.

At the same time, a separate plan seeks to add over 700 million tonnes per annum of port handling capacity by 2030. The expansion is intended to modernise more than 13 major ports and integrate them with industrial corridors, logistics parks and multimodal transport systems, reducing logistics costs and boosting India’s competitiveness in global trade, where ports already move about 95 % of merchandise by volume.