India Blue Economy policy

The Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) has rolled out the Draft Blue Economy policy for India in the public domain inviting suggestions and inputs from various stakeholders including industry, NGOs, academia, and citizens. 

Blue Economy Means

The economic philosophy of the Blue Economy was first introduced in 1994 by Professor Gunter Pauli at the United Nations University (UNU) to reflect the needs of future growth and prosperity, along with the threats posed by global warming. The concept was based on developing more sustainable models of development including concepts of engineering based on “no waste and no emissions”.

The drafts blue economy policy

The draft blue economy policy document outlines the vision and strategy that can be adopted by the Government of India to utilize the plethora of oceanic resources available in the country. The policy document has been disseminated for pubic consultation on several outreach platforms including websites and social media handles of MoES and its institutes. Stakeholders have been invited to submit inputs and ideas by February 27, 2021. The policy document aims to enhance the contribution of the blue economy to India’s GDP, improve lives of coastal communities, preserve marine biodiversity, and maintain the national security of marine areas and resources.

India Blue Economy policy

India’s blue economy is understood as a subset of the national economy comprising an entire ocean resources system and human-made economic infrastructure in marine, maritime, and onshore coastal zones within the country’s legal jurisdiction. It aids the production of goods and services that have clear linkages with economic growth, environmental sustainability, and national security. The blue economy is a vast socio-economic opportunity for coastal nations like India to utilize ocean resources for societal benefit responsibly.

Details of Blue Economy policy

• With a coastline of nearly 7.5 thousand kilometres, India has a unique maritime position. Nine of its 29 states are coastal, and the nation’s geography includes 1,382 islands. There are nearly 199 ports, including 12 major ports that handle approximately 1,400 million tons of cargo each year. 
• Moreover, India’s Exclusive Economic Zone of over 2 million square kilometres has a bounty of living and non-living resources with significant recoverable resources such as crude oil and natural gas. Also, the coastal economy sustains over 4 million fisherfolk and coastal communities. With these vast maritime interests, the blue economy occupies a vital potential position in India’s economic growth. It could well be the next multiplier of GDP and well-being, provided sustainability and socio-economic welfare are kept centre-stage. Therefore, India’s draft blue economy policy is envisaged as a crucial framework towards unlocking country’s potential for economic growth and welfare.
• The MoES prepared the draft blue economy policy framework in line with the Government of India’s Vision of New India by 2030. It highlighted the blue economy as one of the ten core dimensions for national growth. The draft policy framework emphasizes policies across several key sectors to achieve holistic growth of India’s economy. 

The document recognizes the following “seven thematic areas“

1. National accounting framework for the blue economy and ocean governance.
2. Coastal marine spatial planning and tourism.
3. Marine fisheries, aquaculture, and fish processing.
4. Manufacturing, emerging industries, trade, technology, services, and skill development.
5. Logistics, infrastructure and shipping, including trans-shipments.
6. Coastal and deep-sea mining and offshore energy.
7. Security, strategic dimensions, and international engagement.

United Nations and Sustainable Development Goals

• The United Nations Member States, including India, adopted 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs), also known as the Global Goals, in 2015 as a universal call to take action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030.
•  SDG 14 seeks to conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development. Several countries have undertaken initiatives to harness their blue economy. 
• For instance, Australia, Brazil, United Kingdom, United States, Russia, and Norway have developed dedicated national ocean policies with measurable outcomes and budgetary provisions. Canada and Australia have enacted legislation and established hierarchal institutions at federal and state levels to ensure progress and monitoring of their blue economy targets. With a draft blue economy policy framework of its own, India is now all set to harness the vast potential of its ocean resources. 

INDIA’S VISION OF THE Blue Economy policy

• The Blue Economy assumed greater importance after the Third Earth Summit Conference – Rio+20 in 2012. The conference focused inter alia on expanding the concept of Green Economy to include the Blue Economy. The concept received a fillip when the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 14 sought to “conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development” as a guiding principle for global governance and use of ocean resources. Several member nations have now evolved their own definitions and paradigms of the Blue Economy. Globally, the Blue Economy was expected to grow at double the rate of the rest of the world economy according to pre-pandemic OECD estimates. 
• It must be noted that value addition from the Blue Economy includes that from coastal manufacturing and services, maritime trade, shipping, offshore and coastal energy, deep-sea minerals, aquaculture and fisheries, and marine-related technologies. The world-over different national and global initiatives are being undertaken to harness the Blue Economy.

• Countries like Australia, Brazil, U.K., U.S., Russia, and Norway have developed dedicated national ocean policies with measurable outcomes and budgetary provisions. Countries like Canada and Australia have enacted legislation and established hierarchal institutions at federal and state levels to ensure progress and monitoring of Blue Economy targets. 
• India was among the first in the world to create a Department of Ocean Development in 1981, now the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES). Based on the experience of more than three decades, India has come a long way with the launch of new programmes such as “Deep Ocean Mission,” “Oceanography from space” and “Launching of the data buoys” along the Indian coastline. These initiatives have enabled satellites to transmit data on various oceanographic features including weather for scientific analysis. MoES has joined the United Nations on the “Clean Seas Programme” to develop strategies for estimating and reducing Marine Litter/Plastic in the oceans, which is also a part of SDG-14. MoES has also signed two contracts with the International Seabed Authority (ISBA) for deep ocean exploration of minerals (Ploymetallic Nodules and Hydrothermal Sulphide) in the Indian Ocean. In order to reap the benefits of growth in these sectors, India must develop a sustainable policy for both upstream and downstream activities.

• The Government of India’s Vision of New India by 2030 enunciated in February 2019 highlighted the Blue Economy as one of the ten core dimensions of growth. 
• The Blue Economy was mentioned as the sixth dimension of this vision stressing the need for a coherent policy integrating different sectors so as to improve the lives of the coastal communities and accelerate development and employment. Recently, Prime Minister in his 74th Independence Day Speech in 2020 highlighted that in the contemporary context a neighbour is not just the one with whom we share a physical border but also those with whom there is harmony in relations. 
• India should strive for efficient and sustainable utilization of ocean resources and to integrate and Boost Ocean related capabilities, capacities and skills, with a view to accelerating employment and gross value addition, while safeguarding the environment and in harmony with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. 
• A clear agenda based on a transparent policy framework needs to be formulated to develop India’s Blue Economy. The objective of this policy framework will be to enhance the country’s GDP by promoting sustainable and inclusive economic growth in this new domain while aligning India’s development agenda with national security goals and international commitments. 

National Accounting Framework for Blue Economy and Ocean Governance 

• The size of the Blue Economy in India has conservatively been estimated to be about 4% of the Gross Domestic Product. It is likely to be even higher if the methodology is improved. A new robust mechanism needs to be devised to collect data for estimating the Blue Economy in India. The first step should be to constitute an Expert Group to identify sectors and sub-sectors/ activities, which fall under the purview of the Blue Economy.
• In this context, India needs to learn from global best practices. For this, there is a need to establish active scientific collaborations with leading countries/institutions to develop suitable scientific tools and methodologies relevant to Blue Economy measurement and management.

In order to generate reliable data regarding the Blue Economy, the following recommendations were made

1. Enlarge the 2008 National Industrial Classification to accommodate various untapped activities associated with the economy. 
2. Engage with all relevant ministries for the collection of data. 
3. Constitute or identify an official agency to secure relevant data at the dis-aggregated industry level. 
4. Intervene in the formative process of the UN International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities.

Blue Economy and Its Components

Blue Economy

The Blue Economy is the sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth and improved employment opportunities and ocean ecosystem health.

It seeks to promote economic growth, social inclusion, and the preservation or improvement of livelihoods and simultaneously ensuring environmental sustainability of the oceans and coastal areas.

Blue Economy has the following components

• Fisheries: More Sustainable fisheries can generate more revenue, more fish and help restore fish stocks.
• Renewable Ocean Energy: More renewable energy will advance social and economic development.
• Maritime Transport: Over 80% of international goods traded are transported by seas and oceans. And it is expected to double by 2030 and quadruple by 2050.
• Tourism: Ocean and coastal tourism can bring employment opportunities and economic growth.
• Climate Change: Oceans are an important carbon sink and help mitigate climate change. However, climate change resulted in rising sea level and ocean acidification etc.
• Waste Management:80% of ocean litter come from land sources, hence better waste management on land can help oceans recover.

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