The Blue Economy Working Group Report on “National Accounting Framework and Ocean Governance” by the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India, provides a working definition of Blue Economy as - “Blue economy refers to exploring and optimizing the potential of the oceans and seas which are under India’s legal jurisdiction for socio-economic development while preserving the health of the oceans. The Blue Economy links production and consumption to capacity and envisages an integrated approach to economic development and environmental sustainability. It covers both the marine, that is offshore resources, as well as the coastal, that is onshore resources.” With the draft Blue Economy Policy under preparation, the road to developing India’s coasts and oceans is almost complete.

These working group report have emerged as a basis for several Indian institutions to further intensify research and policy focused thinking on Blue economy. As a part of the Quadrilateral dialogue series being jointly implemented by Konrad Adenauer Stiftung India office, National Maritime Foundation and FICCI, this publication is one among many steps to further comprehend, analyse and provide strategies and solutions for sectoral, environmental, social, institutional and governance related issues within the blue economy spectrum. Several institutions working on blue economy provide focused intervention on either ocean or maritime security, economic development or environmental issues- with limited opportunity to establish synergies and create a platform for multi layered and multisectoral approach. The publication focuses on bringing forward the intricate linkages among the three pillars mentioned in the working definition. The publication focuses on several issues such as blue accounting, blue finance, climate change and oceans, ocean health and livelihoods, science and technology, holistic maritime security, industry 4.0 technologies and traditional blue economy sector issues.