Lok Sabha Question No. 2886 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-12-05
Subject: Challenges before Indian Ports
Ministry: SHIPPING
Asked by: Parvesh Sahib Singh

## GOVERNMENT  OF INDIA MINISTRY OF SHIPPING

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION  NO. 2886

TO BE ANSWERED  ON 5111 DECEMBER,  2019

## GHALLENGES  BEFORE INDIAN PORTS

2886. SHRI PARVESH  SAHIB SINGH VERMA:

Will the Minister of SHIPPING  be  pleased to state  : fi-{cft€{qf

- (a) whether  the  ports in lndia are facing challenqes  with regard to capacity exhaustion  and rong warting  time and if so, the steps biing taken  by the Government in this regard;
- (b) whether  lndia is dependent  on foreign  ports for transshipment  hub and if so' the stepsbeingtakenbytheGovernmenttostrengthentheinfrastructureoflndianports; and
- (c)theshareoflndianpo(sintotalmaritimetradeinlndianOceanregionin20l9?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT.CHARGE)  FOR SHIPPING (SHRi MANSUKH MANDAVIYA)

- (a) No, Sir. lnfrastructure  development  and capacity  augmentation  of major  ports is an ongoing  process' ';;;; inter-alia.  involves  construction  of new berths  and terminals,mechanizationofexistingberthsandterminals'capitaldredgingfor deepening  of drafts to' "it'""ting larg!  vessels  in port channels'  development  of road and rail connectivity "t;';;; I""'ti'  tnu cargo  handling  capacity  of the m€ior  ports has been steadily  going up The installed  capacity.of  the major  ports as on 31 3 2019 is  '1514.09  miltion  tonnls  It'  "nn" (MTPA)  which  is sufficient  to handle the existing cargo  traffic  at tne mail'  po't" in" tlfit handled  by the major  ports during  2018-19 was 699 09 miffion ton*nls  lMfl  Signiticant  improvement  in efficiency  has been achieved  Uy the maior forts  ln the lait three years' With a view to further  improve the efficiency and  productivity of the maior  ports and make it  comparable internationally, " 0"";;;;;g"tuov of Maior Ports to international  standards  has beenconducteo*ni"nn,,rlcommendedl16initiativesoutofWhich95have alreadY been imPlemented '
- (b) Yes Sir. Transshipment  of lndian  import, and export  containers  has been taking place primarilv.t f"';[;;;;; init i'-d'uto  shortage of lndian flagged container vessels and unavailability  of deep draft  ports' as a result of which large container vessels do not carr aiiniian  pon.. rn order  to boost transshipment  at lndian  ports'

this Ministry under the provisions of Merchant Shipping Act, 1958 relaxed  cabotage for foreign  vessels for coastal movement of EXIM transshipment containers and Empty containers  in May, 2018. Whereas,  0.27 million  TEUs were transshipped  at lndian ports in 2017-18,  the number went up to 0.35 million TEUs in 201 8-19 reflecting  a growth of 29.620/o.  Against  this, 5.58 million  TEUs & 6.12 million TEUs were transshipped  at foreign ports in 2017-18 and 20'18-'19 respectively which shows a growth of 9.67% only.

(c)  There  are .12 major ports and around  200 non-major  ports in the country  along lndia,s  coasfline  which is about 7500 km. in length. Ports handle around 95% of the EXIM trade by volume in the country. However,  the information  regarding  share of lndian ports in total maritime trade in lndian Ocean  region in 20'19 is not maintained in this Ministry,