Overview of 3rd Indian Lighthouse Festival Held in Visakhapatnam, AP

The 3rd edition of Indian Lighthouse Festival 3.0 held from January 09 to January 10, 2026, at MGM Park in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh (AP).

• The two-day national lighthouse festival was organised by the Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways (MoPSW) and the Director General of Lighthouses and Lightships (DGLL).

Key Highlights:

Inaugurated by: The festival was inaugurated by Muppavarapu (M.) Venkaiah Naidu, former Vice President (VP) of India, who attended the event as the Chief Guest, along with Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, MoPSW.

Key Dignitaries: Union Minister of State (MoS) Suresh Gopi, Ministry of Tourism (MoT) and Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoP&NG); Vijay Kumar, Secretary of MoPSW; M. Angamuthu, Chairman of Visakhapatnam and Mumbai Port Authority (VPA); among others.

Background: In September 2023, the 1st edition, Bharatiya Prakash Stambh Utsav, was held at Fort Aguada in Goa, while the 2nd edition was held in October 2024 at Puri, Odisha.

Lighthouses in India: While addressing the event, Union Minister Sonowal mentioned that 75 lighthouses have already been constructed across the country, of which, 10 were established in AP.

Key Targets Set by GoI: The Government of India (GoI) plans to develop an additional 25 lighthouses across the country.

• Also, the GoI aims to position India among the top 10 maritime super power nations by 2030 and among the top 5 by 2047.

Laid Foundation Stone: During the event, Union Minister Sonowal virtually laid foundation stone for re-construction of staff quarters at Junglighat, Sri Vijaya Puram in Union Territory (UT) Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

• He also virtually inaugurated the light and sound projection mapping show at Aguada Lighthouse in Goa.

MoU between VPA and DGLL: The festival witnessed the exchange of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Visakhapatnam Port Authority (VPA) and  the DGLL for the development of a Lighthouse Museum in Visakhapatnam, AP.

Foundation Stone of 4 Port Projects:  On the sidelines of Indian Lighthouse festival, Union Minister Sonowal laid foundation stone of 4 major port infrastructure development projects worth Rs 230 crore of VPA, at Sagarmala Conventions in Saligrampuram, AP.

• Upgradation of fire-fighting facilities at the LPG berth
• The upgradation and development of infrastructure facilities at the ORS Dry Dock
• Construction of a new Administrative Office Building (AOB) (at a cost Rs 97.70 crore) and
• construction of residential apartments at Harbour Park (with an investment of Rs 44.20 crore).

Other Key Announcements:

Setting-Up of ISTC: During the event, Union Minister Sonowal announced the setting up of India Ship Technology Centre (ISTC), a 1st-of-its kind Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Visakhapatnam, to be developed at a cost of Rs 305 crore, under India Maritime University (IMU).

4 New Lighthouses in Assam: He also announced that 4 new lighthouses will be developed along National Waterway-2 (NW-2) (river Brahmaputra) at Bogibeel, Silghat, Pandu and Biswanathghat, to improve navigational safety on inland waterways.

Key Progress:

Ports Handling Capacity: India’s 12 major ports handled a record 855 million tonnes of cargo in 2024-25.

Reduction in Turnaround Time:  Also, the average vessel turnaround time was reduced from 96 hours (hrs) in 2014 to 49.5 hrs (in 2025).

Global Presence: Currently, 9 out of 12 Indian ports feature among the global top 100, with VPA ranking the top 20 for container traffic.

Projects under Sagarmala Programme: Under this programme, a total of 272 projects worth Rs 1.41 lakh crore have been completed.

• Also, cargo movement surged over 700% to nearly 150 million tonnes per annum.

About Andhra Pradesh (AP):
Chief Minister (CM) – Nara Chandrababu Naidu
Governor- Justice (Retired) S. Abdul Nazeer
Capital- Amaravati
National Parks (NPs)- Rajiv Gandhi (Rameswaram) NP, Papikonda NP