Shipping, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has said that the Sagarmala project will fetch nearly Rs 12-15-lakh crore of capital investments. He estimated that the port-led development plan would generate direct and indirect employment for around two crore people and provide a huge fillip to the country’s economic growth. The minister also inaugurated the Sagarmala Development Company, a unit under his ministry that will act as the nodal agency for the project. Gadkari said that Rs 8 lakh crore investment is expected as industrial investment while an additional Rs 4 lakh crore might go into port-led connectivity. Further investment is likely in other related areas. The minister said projects worth Rs 1 lakh crore under the Sagarmala programme are already under various stages of implementation and by the completion of the present dispensation’s current tenure in 2019, projects worth Rs 5 lakh crore are expected to commence. The minister added that a national perspective plan under the Sagarmala project had been prepared and projects worth Rs 8 lakh crore have been identified. Incorporated under the Companies Act, 2013, the Sagarmala Development Company has Rs 1,000 crore as initial authorised capital. The ministry has already started the process of appointing a full-time managing director for the company.