Lok Sabha Question No. 3659 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-03-17
Subject: Boosting Exports
Ministry: COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
Asked by: Rita Bahuguna Joshi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY

## (DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE)

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.3659 TO BE ANSWERED ON 17 th MARCH, 2021

## BOOSTING EXPORTS

## 3659.  SHRIMATI RITA BAHUGUNA JOSHI:

Will the Minister of COMMERCE & INDUSTRY ( वािण�य एवं उ�ोग मं�ी ) be pleased to state:

- (a) whether any measures are being taken to boost export infrastructure along coastal India;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the procedural aspects related to exporting goods is in line with global best practices and the amount of time taken globally;
- (d) if  not,  whether  there  are  any  plans  to  reduce  the  time  taken  with  respect  to procedural aspects of exporting; and
- (e) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY (SHRI HARDEEP SINGH PURI)

- (a)  and  (b)  : Government  of  India  has  many  sector  specific  schemes  to  boost infrastructure including that in coastal region of the country. The Sagarmala Programme, the flagship programme of the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways focuses on the following:
- a. Port Modernization & New Port Development: De-bottlenecking and capacity expansion of existing ports and development of new greenfield ports.
- b. Port Connectivity Enhancement: Enhancing the connectivity of the ports to the hinterland,  optimizing  cost  and  time  of  cargo  movement  through  multi-modal

logistics  solutions  including  domestic  waterways  (inland  water  transport  and coastal shipping).

- c. Port-linked Industrialization: Developing port-proximate industrial clusters and Coastal Economic Zones to reduce logistics cost and time of EXIM and domestic cargo.
- d. Coastal  Community  Development: Promoting  sustainable  development  of coastal communities through skill development & livelihood generation activities, fisheries development, coastal tourism etc.

Infrastructure development and capacity augmentation of Major Ports is an ongoing process. It involves construction of new berths and terminals, mechanization of existing berths and terminals, capital dredging for deepening of drafts for attracting larger vessels, development of road and rail connectivity etc. As a result, the cargo handling capacity of the Major Ports has gone up-to 1534.91 Million Tonnes Per Annum (MTPA) as on 31 -32020. This is adequate to handle the present level of EXIM and Coastal cargo and also increased requirements in near future.

Ministry  of  Railways  has  also  undertaken  several  port  connectivity  projects  under  the Participative policy which are aimed at strengthening port-rail connectivity and to facilitate seamless movement from/to the ports.

Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has taken up construction of roads in border / coastal areas as part of Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase-1.  Out of 2,000 kms of Border and International Connectivity roads targeted for award under Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase1, 977 kms length has been awarded by National Highways Authority (NHAI), out of which 849 kms length has already been completed.  Against the target for completion of 2,000 kms of Coastal and Port Connectivity roads, awarded 168 Kms length out of which 14 km has already been completed.

(c), (d) and (e) : According to Ease of Doing Business (EODB) 2020 by World Bank (available  on  www.doingbusinessreport.org)  India`s  latest  ranking  on  Trading  Across Border in 2020 is 68 while the same in 2019 was 80 and in 2018 it was 146, showing a consistent improvement.

A number of measures have been taken for facilitating EXIM trade, such as reduction in gate-in window time, installation of RFID at port gate, replacement of manual forms with electronic  forms,  implementation  of  Direct  Port  Entry  (DPE)  and  Direct  Port  Delivery (DPD) etc.  Port community  System  (PCS  1x)  has  been implemented  to integrate  the electronic flow of information and function as the centralized hub for Indian Ports through common interface.

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