India to Put Extra Focus on Major Ports Development

The government of India will further focus on modernization of the country’s Major Ports after recent initiatives resulted in increased cargo volumes and revenue, Union Minister of Shipping, Road Transport & Highways Shri Nitin Gadkari announced at a press conference in New Delhi on September 23.

The profit margins of Major Ports declined from 43% to 28% during 2008 to 2014 and the market share of Major Ports during the period declined from 72% to 57%.

Shri Gadkari said that the decline observed in the performance of Major Ports from 2008 to 2014 has reversed and they have shown improvement in their performance in 2015.

Underlining that the development of ports is important for increasing the GDP of the country, Shri Gadkari said that the new initiatives implemented across the Major ports resulted in the volume of cargo handled increasing by 4.6% and revenue increasing by 8.7% in 2015.

The initiatives undertaken to improve efficiency of Major Ports include delegation of more powers to Major Ports, capital dredging to 18 meters through PPP mode (Public-Private Partnership) in Mormugao Port, new scheme to assist ports to mitigate oil pollution, new scheme to set up coastal berths, passenger jetties etc, establishment of new company Indian Port Rail Corporation to focus on last mile connectivity, new company India Ports Global to take up projects abroad, Sagarmala project to promote port led development, equipments and technology upgradation, mechanization and initiatives for large vessel handling.

Shri Gadkari also said that the port sector in India needs to adopt best international practices such as treatment of waste water at ports, use of bio-diesel to reduce air pollution and opening of modern hospitals and medical facilities at ports.