(a) the details of new projects introduced by the Government for the shipping industries in the country;
(b) whether the Government proposes to improve infrastructure with a view to make process of shipment easier and smoother;
(c) if so, the details thereof;
(d) whether the Government proposes to improve inland waterways transport system in the country; and
(e) if so, the details thereof?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF SHIPPING
(SHRI PON. RADHAKRISHNAN)
(a): The Indian Shipping industry is operated/managed by entrepreneurs from public and private sectors. The acquisition of ship in private sector is solely a commercial decision taken independently by the entrepreneurs. The Shipping Corporation of India (SCI), the only Central Public Sector shipping company having “Navratna” status since 1st August, 2008, takes its own investment decisions.
(b)&(c):To enhance the port-connectivity (for both major and non-major ports) to country’s production and consumption centres, more than 80 connectivity projects have been identified under the SagarmalaProgramme at an estimated infrastructure investment of more than Rs. 2 Lac Crore. This includes last mile road and rail-connectivity infrastructure to the ports, freight expressways, heavy haul rail project to transport coal, new pipelines for transporting crude and petroleum products, development of prioritized inland waterways and new multi-modal logistics hubs.
Besides this, Master Plan for all the twelve Major Ports have been prepared and projects for modernization and capacity addition have been identified for implementation. For improving efficiency of operation in Major Ports more than 100 initiatives have been identified based on operational benchmarking study.
During 2014-15 & 2015-16, a total of 56 Projects have been awarded by Major Ports involving investment of Rs. 25878.24 crore and capacity addition 317.33 MTPA. Another 33 Projects with an investment of Rs. 13123 crore and involving capacity addition of 102 MTPA have been taken for award during the current year 2016-17.
(d)&(e):Yes, Madam. The Jal Marg Vikas Project is being implemented with technical and financial support of World Bank at a total cost of approximately Rs. 4200 crore for capacity augmentation of National Waterway - 1 from Haldia to Allahabad with an objective to facilitate movement of at least 1500 tonne vessels. Development of fairway and construction of multimodal terminals at Varanasi, Sahibganj and Haldia are included in the Project. To improve Inland Waterways Transport system in the country, 106 new waterways have been declared as National Waterways (NW) under the National Waterways Act, 2016 in addition to the existing five NWs. In addition to waterways that are already operational, these new waterways are to be developed in a phased manner.
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