The Centre, through the Union Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW), is looking at ₹4,000 crore project where it intends to rewrite the country’s maritime history, with a strong push on highlighting the historic town of Lothal (now a UNESCO world heritage site) in Gujarat as the pivot to such trade activities. The city of Lothal will be pushed as an international tourist destination with additional investment going in towards infrastructure upgrade apart from setting up a maritime heritage complex.
The infrastructure upgrade will include star-hotels from international brands, theme parks and so on, apart from a push towards promoting the inland waterways network.
Maritime museum
Components of the National Maritime Heritage Complex include a maritime museum — highlighting ancient shipbuilding, navigation techniques, and India’s role in the maritime Silk Route; waterfront development — area dedicated to preserving and displaying ancient and modern maritime technologies, including reconstructions of ancient vessels; research and education — a hub for research on maritime archaeology, history, and conservation; cultural & heritage attraction — along the trade network spanning the Indian Ocean, connecting India to Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
“We will set up the National Maritime Heritage Complex in Lothal — home to the world’s first man-made dock. Around ₹4,000 crore will be spent in developing the maritime complex and setting up allied infra that include a maritime facility, hotels to support the push as a tourist spot, theme parks and so on. Apart from government investments, we are expecting substantial PPP (public private partnerships) in setting up the supporting infra,” Sarbananda Sonowal, Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways told businessline.
The PPP investments are expected to be to the tune of ₹3,000 crore-odd, sources said. Some of the hotel majors have already expressed interest to invest into complex. Phase 1A of the project — that involves setting up of galleries highlighting India’s maritime trade across States — is already underway and is expected to be completed around September 2025, Sonowal said. “By end 2029, the entire Maritime Heritage Complex project should be up and ready,” he added.
According to Professor Vasant Shinde, eminent archaeologist and Advisor, NMHC, Lothal, the infrastructure upgrade, will also include a Lighthouse Museum, an open aquatic gallery, coastal State Pavilions, theme-based parks including a monument theme park, Naval theme park, Climate change theme park, Amusement park, Nature conservation park etc.
Rewriting History
A senior historian told businessline that India is pushing itself as a “soft power” while making a concerted effort to “record and rewrite an aspect of history that has been ignored the British narratives.”
Lothal is one of the ancient cities in Indian and was an important centre of trade and craftsmanship during the Harappan Civilisation (also known as the Indus Valley Civilisation), around 4,000 to 5,000 years ago. The city was strategically situated along the coast and had a dockyard, suggesting that it was a major hub for maritime trade.
Archaeological findings at Lothal include well-planned streets, a dockyard, bead-making workshops and artifacts such as pottery, jewellery and seals, which indicate the city’s role in trade networks extending to Mesopotamia and other parts of the ancient world. “The National Maritime Heritage Complex is expected to boost tourism in the region,” Minister Sonowal said.
Sites like Byet Dwarka (located off the coast of the Saurashtra region in Gujarat) — also considered as another ancient port town and a religious site — could also get a fillip if the maritime heritage project picks up.