India: “The Maritime Agenda 2010-2020″ Introduced

The Government has formulated a Perspective Plan for development of the Maritime Sector, namely, “The Maritime Agenda 2010-2020”. This Plan has estimated the traffic projections and capacity additions at the Ports upto the year 2020.

The Government has decided to develop two new major ports with private participation under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) Mode, one at Dugarajapatnam in Andhra Pradesh and the other at Sagar Island in West Bengal. M/s. RITES Ltd. has been appointed as Consultant for preparing Techno-Economic Feasibility Report for the new port project in Andhra Pradesh.

For the new port project in West Bengal, M/s. RITES Ltd. has submitted the Techno-Economic Feasibility Report and action has been initiated for appointment of Transaction Adviser. As on date, Rs.1.392 crore has been released to Kolkata Port Trust for making payment to M/s. RITES Ltd. for carrying out the Inception Report on the feasibility study for port facilities at Sagar Island. In the year 2013-14, Rs.1.00 crore has been allocated at Budget Estimate stage for Research and Development Study of Major Ports.

The process of development of these new ports has been initiated.

This information was given by the Minister of Shipping Shri G.K. Vasan in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.

Read more: Government Initiates Measures to Enhance Port Capacity 

The export of certain commodities like iron ore has declined in major ports including Mormugao Port. However, exportsfrom Major Ports like Ennore, VO Chidambaranar, Cochin, Mumbai, Jawaharlal Nehru and Kandla have increased.

The details of the exports from various ports in the country including Mormugao Port, year-wise during the last three years are given below:

The reasons for decline in exports from certain Major Ports is primarily due to restrictions on iron ore mining and the global economic slowdown.

The Government has initiated the following measures to improve cargo throughput in the Major Ports:

- Construction of new berths and terminals to enhance port capacity;

- Modernising berths with state of the art loading / un-loading equipments to improve operational efficiency;

- Initiatives by Ports to attract more cargo & increase throughput;

- Initiatives by Ports to diversify the cargo, particularly in Mormugao Port.

This information was given by the Minister of Shipping Shri G.K. Vasan in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.