One of India’s leading maritime businesses has unveiled plans for a new $10 million maritime training college in the Patna district of Bihar State in India.
Mumbai-based Pentagon Marine Services has announced that it is planning for a new maritime college in India. Pentagon chose Bihar as it is one of India’s poorest and most populous states with a population of 83 million. It is a North Eastern state neighboring Nepal.
Capt. Nalin Pandey, Chairman and Managing Director of Pentagon Marine Services, made this announcement at the Link India U.K. Business Awards in London. He said that the latest Pentagon Maritime Training & Research Institute (PMTRI) would start construction in the autumn. It will complement a sister college run by Pentagon in Mumbai. He added that both colleges will be headed up by Capt. Pandey’s wife Pratibha Pandey, a chemical engineer.
“We are immensely excited to make this announcement about India’s newest maritime college which aims to train 2,000 people a year,” he said. “India’s maritime sector is seeing massive infrastructure investment through the $15 billion Sagar Mala coastal and inland waterways mega plan. Maritime is going to be a sector of vital importance over the next 100 years. We must have world-class training to ensure we have the skilled workforce to support it. A key point is that the college will create long-term well-paid work for people of all academic abilities across a wide range of professions within the maritime industry. That is tremendous news for Bihar which, as India’s poorest state, desperately needs to find new industries to drive education, employment and wealth creation. The college will be targeting young people aged 18-25 who will make up 64 percent of India’s population by 2020. This next generation needs stimulating, fulfilling careers and there are few more important industries in India right now than the maritime sector.” conveyed Capt. Pandey.
He also thanked the Government of Bihar for its ‘energetic support’ for the new maritime college.
Capt. Pandey, is a philanthropist in India. He served in the Indian Merchant Navy in senior positions in India and Europe for 23 years before becoming an entrepreneur and launching Pentagon Marine Services. Capt Pandey plays an active role in Indian maritime politics. He is the chairman of the Maritime Training and Research Foundation which was set up by India’s shipping trade body, MASSA – Maritime Association of Shipowners, Shipmanagers and Agents of which Capt Pandey is a board member. He is honorary officer bearer of number of NGOs both private and government including the Bihar Foundation.
At the award ceremony the judges made special reference for his contribution to the welfare of Indian seafarers and paid tribute to the growth of Pentagon Marine Services, the ship management division of the business.
PMS was founded in 2004 and now employs 45 people across its headquarters in Mumbai and regional offices in New Delhi, Kolkata, Kochi and Chennai. It further employs 350 seafarers and operates a subsidiary in Singapore. Its clients include Stolt Tankers, Finaval and the Shipping Corporation of India.
