UPSC Prelims 2026 Q35: Sagarmala Programme & Sagarmala 2.0 — Explained

Consider the following statements with reference to the Sagarmala Programme of the Government of India:

I. The Sagarmala Programme seeks to achieve port-led economic growth through cost-effective and sustainable coastal infrastructure.

II. The success of the Sagarmala Programme is reflected in significant growth in coastal and inland waterway shipping, along with improved global port rankings.

III. Sagarmala 2.0 aims to position India as a global maritime innovation hub aligned with Atmanirbhar Bharat and Viksit Bharat 2047 visions.

Which of the following relationships among the above statements is/are correct?

1. Statement II validates the effectiveness of the strategies envisioned in statement I.

2. Statement III extends the objectives of statement I by embedding them into a future-oriented innovation framework.

3. Statement I contradicts statement III by focusing only on traditional infrastructure instead of modern innovation.

  1. 1 only
  2. 1 and 2
  3. 2 and 3
  4. 3 only

Answer: (b) 1 and 2

Statement-wise explanation

  • I: correct — Sagarmala is the flagship Central Sector Scheme of the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways for port-led development. The Union Cabinet approved its concept on 25 March 2015. Its stated aim is to move goods to and from ports quickly, efficiently and cost-effectively, using India's roughly 7,500 km coastline and 14,500 km of potentially navigable waterways. PIB also describes its focus as sustainable coastal development.
  • II: correct — PIB's March 2025 release credits Sagarmala with 118% growth in coastal shipping over the last decade and about 700% growth in inland waterway cargo. Inland waterway cargo rose from 18.10 MTPA in FY 2013–14 to 145.50 MTPA in FY 2024–25. The same release says nine Indian ports now rank among the world's top 100. These are the official outcome figures.
  • III: correct — This sentence is almost word for word from PIB: Sagarmala 2.0 'aims to position India as a global maritime innovation hub aligned with Atmanirbhar Bharat and Viksit Bharat 2047 visions'. Sagarmala 2.0 has budgetary support of ₹40,000 crore and aims to draw about ₹12 lakh crore of investment over a decade. It focuses on shipbuilding, ship repair, ship recycling and port modernisation. The Sagarmala Startup Innovation Initiative (S2I2), launched on 19 March 2025, is its innovation arm.
  • 1: correct — Statement I sets the strategy: port-led growth through efficient coastal and waterway transport. Statement II gives the measured results of that strategy: higher coastal shipping and inland waterway cargo, and better port rankings. Outcomes that match the stated goals validate the strategy, so this relationship holds.
  • 2: correct — Sagarmala 2.0 is the next phase of the same programme, not a replacement. It keeps the port-led development goal of Statement I and adds shipbuilding, repair, recycling and startup innovation (S2I2), framed around the 2047 targets. That is an extension of Statement I into a forward-looking innovation framework.
  • 3: incorrect — Statement I does not say the programme focuses 'only' on traditional infrastructure. It explicitly includes 'sustainable' coastal infrastructure, and Sagarmala's five pillars also cover industrialisation and coastal communities. Statement III builds on Statement I and does not conflict with it, so the claim of contradiction is wrong.

How to eliminate

Relationship 3 has two warning signs. It uses the absolute word 'only', and it calls a programme and its own second phase contradictory. Statement I also contains the word 'sustainable', which directly undercuts 'only traditional infrastructure'. Removing 3 removes the options that include it ('2 and 3' and '3 only'). You are left with '1 only' and '1 and 2'. A version 2.0 of a scheme almost always extends version 1.0, so relationship 2 is reasonable and the answer is '1 and 2'. You need no figures for this question. Careful reading and the rule that a scheme's later phase builds on its earlier one are enough. For similar questions, the fact worth remembering is the Sagarmala 2.0 package: ₹40,000 crore of support, about ₹12 lakh crore of investment expected, and a focus on shipbuilding, repair and recycling.

Know more

Sagarmala is the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways' Central Sector Scheme for port-led development. Its concept was approved by the Cabinet on 25 March 2015. The idea is to cut logistics costs for trade by moving more cargo by coast and inland waterways, alongside road and rail.

Five pillars

Pillar What it covers
Port modernisation & new ports Capacity, mechanisation, new ports
Port connectivity Road, rail, pipeline and waterway links to ports
Port-led industrialisation Coastal Economic Zones (CEZs), industrial clusters
Coastal community development Fisheries, skilling, livelihoods
Coastal shipping & inland water transport Shifting cargo to sea and river routes

Institutions: The National Sagarmala Apex Committee (NSAC) provides policy guidance. Planning follows the National Perspective Plan (NPP), which identified the Coastal Economic Zones.

Scale (PIB, April 2026): 845 projects worth ₹6.06 lakh crore, of which 315 worth ₹1.57 lakh crore are complete.

Outcomes PIB cites (2025):

  • Coastal shipping grew 118% in a decade.
  • Inland waterway cargo rose from 18.10 MTPA (FY14) to 145.50 MTPA (FY25), about +700%.
  • Nine Indian ports are in the world's top 100.

Sagarmala 2.0 shifts the focus from building ports to building a maritime industry:

  • shipbuilding, ship repair and ship recycling, plus port modernisation;
  • ₹40,000 crore of budgetary support, aiming to attract about ₹12 lakh crore of investment over ten years;
  • S2I2 (Sagarmala Startup Innovation Initiative, March 2025): funding and mentoring for startups in green shipping, smart ports and maritime logistics;
  • framed around Atmanirbhar Bharat and Viksit Bharat 2047.

Linked initiatives that UPSC often pairs with Sagarmala include Maritime India Vision 2030, Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision 2047, the National Waterways and Bharatmala (the road-sector counterpart).

In the news

In March 2025 the Shipping Ministry marked ten years of Sagarmala. PIB published an outcomes release (118% coastal shipping growth, about 700% inland waterway growth, nine ports in the global top 100) and announced Sagarmala 2.0 together with the S2I2 startup initiative. Statement III repeats that release almost word for word.

NCERT Concepts to Revise

  • Sagarmala Programme: Every relationship here hinges on Sagarmala's aim of port-led growth via efficient coastal and waterway transport, and on Sagarmala 2.0 being its next phase.

Read more