India and Norway agree to conduct marine spatial planning in Lakshadweep and Pondicherry

New Delhi, March 04: There has been growth in economic and commercial relations between India and Norway in recent years, especially in areas such as oil and gas, shipping and maritime industries, renewable energy, offshore projects and service sectors. India and Norway have agreed to jointly work in the area of marine spatial planning in the oceanic space for the next five years.

Recently, both countries were successfully conducted a first project steering committee meeting with representatives from both the countries virtually recently, after which the two countries have charted out a plan to ensure that human activities at sea take place in an efficient, safe, and sustainable manner in areas such as energy, transportation, fisheries, aquaculture, tourism, etc. across multiple sectors.

 

 

 

The two countries have decided to extend support for sustainable ocean resources utilisation to advance economic and social development in coastal areas. The initiative known as Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) will be implemented by the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) through National Centre for Coastal Research (NCCR) for India. In its primary phase, NCCR will develop a marine spatial planning framework for Puducherry and Lakshadweep.

 

Notably, the World Bank and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) have expressed interest in supporting MoES in conducting MSP, a societal-beneficial initiative for India's coastal regions. The Government of India’s vision of New India by 2030 highlights the blue economy as one of the ten core dimensions of growth. MSP is globally identified as a tool for sustainable and integrated ocean management.

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