It was signed between Republic of India and Federal Republic of Germany in 2019.
It will help India achieve the goal of phasing out single use plastics by 2022
India and Germany recently signed agreement on ‘Cities combating plastic entering the marine environment’.
Marine litter threatens ecosystems and adversely affects fishery and tourism industries around the globe.
It affects public health with increased concerns about micro-plastic and risk of particles entering the food chain.
The project is to be implemented mainly in the states of Kerala, Uttar Pradesh and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
It will mainly support cities such as Port Blair, Kochi and Kanpur.
India is the twelfth largest source of marine litter in the world.
By 2025, it is expected to become the fifth largest source of marine litter.
It is estimated that 15-20% of all plastics are entering oceans via riverine ecosystems of which 90% are contributed by 10 of the world’s most polluting rivers.
Two of these river systems are located in India, namely Ganga and Brahmaputra.