<span style="color: #222222;">Union Minister of Shipping, Ports, and waterways Sarbananda Sonowal reiterated India's commitment towards Green Ship Recycling and Vehicle Scrapping as per the global environmental norms.<br />''<br />''Addressing the inaugural session of the International Conference on Green Ship Recycling & Vehicle Scrapping at Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar, Gujarat Mr. Sonowal said India is a signatory to Hongkong Convention and top priority is being given to ensure safe and sustainable ship recycling in the country.<br />''<br />''Calling Gujarat a business gateway of India, Mr. Sonowal said 40 percent of India's cargo trade is carried out from the ports in Gujarat. The Minister said Alang Ship Yard located in Gujarat is one of the largest Ship Recycling centers in the world which carries out one-third of global ship recycling. The minister also informed that as many as 74 projects are going on in Gujarat under the Centre's Sagarmala Project.<br />''<br />''Gujarat Chief Minister Shri Bhupendra Patel said that due to its unique geographic location, proactive policies, well-developed infrastructure, and connectivity, Gujarat has been the leading state in the maritime sector. He said there was an era of Ship Breaking which is replaced by Ship recycling today. The Chief Minister said Gujarat aims to become the hub of Green Ship Recycling.<br />''<br />''The conference was organized by the Ministry of Shipping, Ports & Waterways along with Gujarat Maritime Board and FICCI to showcase the status of the ship recycling industry in Alang and explore synergies of the ship recycling industry with the vehicle scrapping industry.<br />''<br />''Two sessions were organized as a part of the day-long conference which will focus on the Ship Recycling act, compliance with Hongkong convention, safe recycling, vehicle scrapping policy, etc.<br />''<br />''Representatives from the government, global CEOs, and national and international industry representatives from the shipping sector attended the conference.<br />''<br />''The conference will be followed by a visit to the Alang ship breaking yard tomorrow which is the hub of ship recycling in the country.</span><br />