Comprehension:
Read the given passage and answer the following questions.
India should deploy a dedicated satellite system for tracing and managing its fisheries
sector. It should expand its patrolling in the high seas and put in place a 30 year ‘holistic’
shipbuilding plan under the Atma nirbhar initiative to give a boost to shipping and
shipbuilding sector, recommends a draft policy prepared by multiple committees led by the
Prime Minister’s economic Advisory Council.
The draft is part of India’s ‘Blue Economy’ Framework. This refers to tapping the economic
potential from India’s oceans and also includes allied activities such as coastal tourism,
mariculture, fisheries and deep-sea mining. Currently a ’conservative’ estimate of the size of
the Blue Economy is about 4% of the Gross Domestic Policy, the report notes.
India’s 7,517 km long coastline is home to nine coastal States and 1,382 islands. With 12
major ports and 187 non-major ports, handling about 1,400 million tonnes of cargo, 95% of
India’s trade by volume transits by sea. India’s Exclusive Economic Zone of over two million
square kilometres is rich in living and non-living resources and holds significant recoverable
resources of crude oil and of recoverable natural gas. The coastal economy also sustains
over 4 million fishermen and other coastal communities. “With these vast maritime
interests, the Blue Economy in India has a vital relationship with the nation’s economic
growth,” said the report.
The Ministry of Earth Sciences had drafted a similar policy in 2015 but was not finalised.
The present report was prepared by seven committees that had government representatives
as well as private organisations such as the Resource Information System for Developing
Countries , the National Maritime Foundation , the Energy and Resource Institute, the
Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry and the Indian Ocean Rim
Association.
The Group noted that while there is significant potential for tourism, it was necessary to
curb uncontrolled and unplanned tourist activities that cause stress on the carrying
capacity of coastal ecosystems, especially those on fragile island territories.
On the basis of your reading of the passage answer the following questions by choosing
the best option.
Select one correct option: