SAGARMALA STARTUP AND INNOVATION INITIATIVE

The Sagarmala Startup and Innovation Initiative (S2I2) was launched on 19 March 2025 to create an innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem for India’s maritime sector. The Maritime India Foundation (MIF) is the implementing agency. Maritime Innovation Hubs have been set up at IIT Madras, IIT Bombay, IIT Kharagpur and the Indian Maritime University, Chennai, to support technology development and startup incubation. Under S2I2, the first maritime hackathon – MAR‑a‑THON 2025 – was held on 25 August 2025 at IIT Madras, followed by a boot‑camp on 16‑17 October 2025. The initiative attracted 330 startup applications for 51 problem statements across six thematic areas, leading to the selection of 36 startups for 40 projects. Visakhapatnam Port identified four problem statements, and two Andhra‑Pradesh startups have been onboarded to address them, as noted by the Union Minister in a Rajya Sabha reply.